The HISTORY of IDAHO BY JOHN HAILEY MCMX PRESS OF SYMS-YORK COMPANY, Inc. BOISE. IDAHO Copyrighted 1910 by Syms-York Company, Inc., for John Hailey PREFACE What is now the State of Idaho, at one time was a part of what was called the Northwestern Territory. Before commencing to write about Idaho proper, in order that the reader might get a correct understanding of this Northwestern Territory, it was necessary to give a brief description of the discovery, exploration and settlement by Americans, settlement of title with other nations which laid claim to this territory, the first Provisional Government, Indian troubles, and the organization of Oregon and Washington Territories. The endeavor has been to give a statement of the operations of the people since Territorial organization up to statehood in 1890, with a brief reference to some of the legislative enactments at each session, the times, where held, names of all members, financial con- dition of the Territory from time to time, with frequent accounts of the progress made by the people in the settlement of the coun- try, including the various modes of transportation, mining, farm- ing, irrigation, kind of land, area of territory by counties, stock raising, Indian wars, building of railroads, schools, churches, etc. In fact, most everything of importance connected with Territorial days has been at least touched upon. The aim has been to give a brief history of the most important events connected with the set- tlement and development of the country through Territorial days more than twenty-seven years and at the same time not to have the book so voluminous as to be cumbersome to either old people or children; and also to give a brief review of the progress made by the people of Idaho since statehood up to 1909> with a brief view of the outlook for the future. Having made Idaho my home since its organization up to the present time and being familiar with the topography as well as the people of the Territory in early days, and having preserved copies of some valuable records and taken an active part in the early settlement and development of this country, I have been able to write mostly from personal knowledge of events. I have at- tempted to give the facts as I understand them, without exagger- ation. Writing for publication is entirely out of my line, and I cer- tainly would not have attempted this had it not been, first, for the many misstatements published about Idaho in early days, and par- ticularly concerning the character and conduct of the good people of those days; and second, for the earnest solicitation to do so by many friends as well as by my children, and especially by my only daughter, Mrs. Leona Hailey Cartee, to whom this work is affectionately dedicated. THE AUTHOR. INDEX CHAPTER PAGE. 1. Discovery and description of the Northwest Territory Spain and Russia ceded their claims to the United States 1 2. Hudson Bay Company Organization of Provisional Govern- ment in Oregon 11 3. Captain Wyeth, Rev. Dr. Whitman and other Missionaries Agent White and Indians 14 4. Settlement of boundary line between the United States and Great Britain Cayuse War Murder of Dr. Whitman Meek's trip to WalsTimgtbn Congress passes act organizing Oregon Territory Joseph Lane appointed Governor Joseph Meek appointed U. S. Marshal Arrival at Oregon City. . . 20 5. Governor Lane and Oregon Capture of the Whitman Mur- derers Their trial, conviction and execution 25 6. Organization of Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming Territories 26 7. Early settlers Indian treaties Mormon settlement Dis- covery of gold at Florence, Boise Basin and other places in Idaho 27 8. Robbery of Mr. Berry, a packer, on trail from Florence by English, Scott and Peebles, in 1862 34 9. Story of Moses Splawn's discovery of gold mines in Boise Basin in 1862 36 10. Organization of the Territory of Idaho Appointment of Fed- eral officers First election of members of the legislature and delegate to Congress 45 11. Indian troubles in Southern Idaho in 1863 49 12. Rush to Boise Basin mines Packing Saddle trains Mer- chandising, mining, etc 61 13. Discovery of gold in Owyhee and Rocky Bar 65 14. Murder of Lloyd Magruder and others, by Lowry, Howard and Remain Their capture and return by Hill Beachy Their trial, conviction and execution at Lewiston 66 15. First session of the legislature of Idaho Territory 77 16. Trouble with Indians in Owyhee County in 1864 86 17. Fort Boise, Boise City and Valley in 1863-4 88 18. The people and their doings in the different counties in early days 91 19. Transportation and staging to Boise Basin in 1864 95 20. Second session of the Territorial legislature 100 21. Mining and mining towns in 1864 107 22. Third session of the legislature of Idaho 109 23. Mining in Boise Basin and other mining camps, in 1865 116 24. Assessable property Territorial revenue Schools, etc., up to December 4, 1865 118 25. Staging, carrying U. S. mails, express and freighting, up to July, 1870 123 26. Progress made by the people in development of the country in 1865 and 1866 Conduct, etc 127 27. The Fourth Session of the legislature of Idaho 130 CHAPTER PAGE. 28. Southeastern Idaho 136 29. Mining in 1866 138 30 Farming, stock raising and freighting in Southern Idaho in 1866 140 31. Progress and doings of the people in Idaho in a general way from 1867 to 1870, inclusive 142 32. Fifth Session of the legislature of Idaho 145 33. Classification of Land Creation of Counties General Re- view of counties and men, from 1863 to 1870 149 34. Sixth Session of the Legislature of Idaho 160 35. Federal and Territorial officers from March 10, 1863, to Jan- uary, 1870 166 36. Mining, public buildings, mills, farming, etc., in 1869-70 170 37. Seventh Session of the legislature of Idaho 173 38. Agriculture, stock raising, mining, transportation, and doings of the people in a general way in 1871 and 1872 180 39. Interesting contribution from Hon. J. S. Butler 183 40. Eighth Session of the legislature of Idaho 188 41. Progress made by the people from 1873 to 1877 195 42. Ninth Session of the legislature of Idaho 197 43. Indian war with Nez Perce Chief Joseph, in 1877 201 4 44. Indian war with the Bannock and other tribes of Indians in 1878 223 45. Farming, mining, stock raising and transportation in 1877, 1878 255 46. Tenth Session of the legislature of Idaho 256 47. War with the renegade mixed Bannocks and Shoshone Indians, called "Sheep-eater" Indians, in 1879 260 48. Transportation, farming, stock raising and mining in Idaho in 1879 and 1880 263 49. Eleventh Session of the legislature of Idaho 264 50. The Wood River mining district in 1880 and 1881 268 51. Twelfth Session of the legislature of Idaho 269 52. Farming, transportation, stock raising and mining, 1883-1884 . 271 53. Thirteenth Session of the legislature of Idaho 272 54. Farming, transportation, stock raising and mining, 1885-1887.275 55. Fourteenth Session of the legislature of Idaho 276 56. Fifteenth Session of the legislature of Idaho 279 57. Names of Federal and Territorial officers during Territo- rial days March 10, 1863, to Decembr, 1890 288 58. Interesting items taken from the Boise News published at Idaho City in 1863 and 1864 293 59. Items taken from the Tri-Weekly Statesman published in Boise in the sixties 300 60. Creation and organization of counties in Idaho Area of land in each county, surveyed and unsurveyed Military, Indian and forest reservations Area of lakes, December, 1907 305 61. Early settlers in Idaho 309 62. Historical Society of the State of Idaho 313 63. The status of the different tribes of Indians located in Idaho Territory at the beginning of statehood, 1890 315 64. Interesting history from the pen of Jud Boyakin, one of Idaho's pioneer editors 319 65. Account of Brice's rescue of Manuel's child from Indians . . . 322 66. Rev. Henry Spaulding Established Mission at Lapwai in 1836 f 326 67. Names of members of Constitutional convention and names of first State officers 332 68. A pioneer or pioneer's life 335 CHAPTER PAGE. 69. Some of the first Americans who came to the Northwest Ter- ritory 338 70. The frequent changes that have been made in the names and government in what is now the State of Idaho 343 71. The progress I have seen made in the Northwest in the past fifty-six years 346 72. The massacre and suffering of the Otter party of immigrants on the Overland Road, some twenty miles below Salmon Falls on the south side of Snake River, in 1860 352 73. The late General Lane 358 74. Time the old trapping station commonly called Old Fort Hall was located First U. S. troops 362 75. A brief explanation 364 76. Government of State, Legislative, Executive, Judicial, Federal and County Officers .365 77. State lands sold or leased Forest reserves Civil and criminal laws Lawyers and doctors Health and climate Increase in population since statehood 368 78. Stock raising, ranges, lumber industry fruit industry, sugar beets and sugar factories, dairies and creameries, foundries and machine shops, fish hatcheries, lakes and hot springs, State public institutions, schools Country schools 370 79. State and private institutions, deaf, dumb and blind school, State industrial school, Children's home-finding and other private hospitals 373 80. Land, farming and irrigation since statehood 374 81. Indians in Idaho in 1907 377 82. Banks, National and State Newspapers, periodicals, towns, hotels, restaurants, store houses and merchandise, residence buildings, cihurches, ministers and Sunday schools, new towns and improvements of old ones, railroads, telegraph and telephone, wagon roads, stages and transportation by wagons and pack animals, mining for gold, silver, lead, etc., falls on Snake River, electric power plants 380 83. Idaho State Fair, 1909 383 84. Violation of criminal law causes of Some proposed preven- tatives 385 85. Altitudes of county seats in Idaho 389 86. About myself 390 87. Idaho's future 392 88. Suggestions about the future Importations and home produc- tions More home manufacturers More farmers and fewer traders and idlers 393 SONGS. From Idaho's Mother, Oregon 396 A Pioneer Song \. 397 Idaho Song by H. C. Thompson 398 Idaho, O, Idaho by Ernest O. Mills 399 My Country 400 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO CHAPTER I. DISCOVERY AND DESCRIPTION OP THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY SPAIN AND RUSSIA CEDED THEIR CLAIMS TO THE UNITED STATES. Before entering upon a description of the early settlement of Idaho, we think it due to those who may read this that we should at least give a brief sketch of the discovery of this Northwestern part of the United States, including the settlement of title to all of the land west of the summit of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and as far south from the 49th parallel to the 42nd parallel, to the northern boundary of California. It will be remembered that the territory included in the above description was all called, first, the Northwestern, and later, Oregon Terri- tory, and was all included in the Organic Act of Congress creating and organizing a territorial government called Oregon. It must also be borne in mind that the Territory of Oregon, as first organ- ized, included at that time all of what is now the States of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and a considerable portion of what are now the States of Montana and Wyoming. DISCOVERY. As early as 1789, we find Captains Robert Gray and John Ken- dricks, commanders of American sailing vessels, were sailing along the coast of the Puget Sound country, (the coast of what is now a part of Washington State) and trading some with the Indians for furs of wild animals. In 1792 Captain Robert Gray discov- ered the mouth of the Columbia River, and sailed several miles up the river in his ship "Columbia." We take the following from an article published in the Idaho World at Idaho City, Idaho, June 30th, 1866, which seems to have been taken from some correspondent of a paper in Oregon called The Bulletin. This article seems to give some additional facts in reference to the discovery of land and the great Columbia River, which we think are substantially correct. The article is as fol- lows: "The other day in rummaging over the archives of the State, I found a silver medal of the size and appearance of a Mexican dollar, struck and bearing the date of 1792, in the town of Boston in the Province of Massachusetts. I can only describe it as it ap- pears to the unlearned eye. On one side is the inscription, 'Colum- His 1 $ THE HISTORY OF IDAHO bia and Washington commanded by J. Kendrick,' and inside the circle made by the legend, are, 'Vessels under sail in Blivo.' On the obverse side are the words: Titted at Boston, North America, for the Pacific Ocean by J. Burrel, S. Brown, C. Bullfish, J. Darby, C. Hatch, J. M. Pentard, 1787.' This medal was presented to the State of Oregon in I860 by J. Quin Thornton, and I condense its story from his memorial accompanying it. In the year 1787, a company of merchants of Boston, consisting of the persons named on the obverse side of the medal, fitted out the ships Columbia and Washington for trade and exploration on the northwest coast of North America. The first named vessel was under command of Captain Kendrick, and the latter, under command of Captain Gray. On the 30th day of November of the same year, both vessels sailed from Boston with letters from the Confederate government of the thirteen United Colonies and passports from that of the Bay State. Both vessels arrived at Nootka Sound in September, 1788, and spent the Winter in trading with the natives for furs. In the Spring of 1789, Captain Gray sailed for Canton and thence to Boston, where he arrived in the Autumn of 1790. In the Spring of 1792, Captain Gray returned to the northwest coast in the Co- lumbia, accompanied by the brig Hope, Captain Joseph Ingraham. While sailing southward, Captain Gray discovered an opening in latitude 46 16' and from which a current flowed with sufficient force to prevent him from entering, although he spent nine days in at- tempting to do so. In April, 1792, Captain Gray hailed the Brit- ish ship Discovery and informed her commander, Captain Van- Couver, of his discovery of the mouth of a river which he was unable to enter. On the llth of May, 1792, Captain Gray, feeling con- fident that the current came from the mouth of a river, renewed his efforts to enter into this river and with some difficulty succeeded. He sailed up the river to a place now called Tongue Point, where he cast anchor and remained until the 20th of the month, trading with the natives. Upon leaving the river, Captain Gray exercised the prerogative of a discoverer and named the river after the first keel that ever rested upon its waters, the good ship "Columbia." The land on the north side of the entrance, like a true Bostonian, he called 'Cape Hancock/ and that on the south, 'Point Adams.' The name of the river and the south land we still retain, but the north land has the unpleasant appellation of Cape Disappointment, given it by Hears in 1788. Hears concluded that no river flowed into what he thought to be only a bay, and named the opening De- ception Bay, and the head land, Cape Disappointment. Upon the final return of the expedition to Boston, a few silver medals were DISCOVERY AND DESCRIPTION 3 struck to commemorate the discovery of the mouth of the Columbia River. One of these medals was deposited in the State Depart- ment at Washington and is now in the Congressional Library. One was retained by Captain Gray. It is believed that these two are the only ones that are now in existence. Captain Gray having ended his voyage and passed away, his widow became the possessor of his medal. After keeping it for several years, she gave it to Hall J. Kelly in trust, that he would make some appropriate use of it. In 1848 Mr. Thornton, being in Washington, D. C., as a sort of envoy from the Governor of the provisional government of Oregon, received this medal from Mr. Kelly with a like injunction. Mr. Thornton brought it to Oregon and retained it in his possession until I860, when he presented it to the State of Oregon. "So, after three-quarters of a century, Captain Gray's medal has found an appropriate resting place among the archives of a State near the banks of the river named Columbia by Captain Gray, the first white man that discovered this great river." In the year 1803, Thomas Jefferson, then President of the United States, had learned something of the supposed value of this great Northwestern country. Believing it would be a most valuable acquisition to the United States, he conceived the idea of sending an exploring expedition up the Missouri River and across the moun- tains to the Pacific coast. In order to do this, it was necessary for him to call on Congress for a small appropriation in order to equip his men, who were mostly soldiers taken from the United States army. Owing to some unavoidable delay, the exploring party, consisting of Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with about thirty-three men, did not start from St. Louis up the Missouri River until May, 1804. The following letter from Presi- dent Jefferson it seems well to place in this history as showing the wonderful forethought of Jefferson: "To Meriwether Lewis, Captain of the First Regiment of Infantry of the United States of America: "Your situation as secretary of the President of the United States has made you acquainted with the objects of my confidential mes- sage of January 18, 1803, to the legislature; you have seen the act they passed, which, though expressed in general terms, was meant to sanction those objects, and you are appointed to carry them into execution. "Instruments for ascertaining, by celestial observations, the ge- ography of the country through which you will pass, have been already provided. Light articles for barter and presents among the Indians, arms for your attendants, say for from ten to twelve men, 4 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO boats, tents, and other traveling apparatus, with ammunition, med- icine, surgical instruments, and provisions, you will have prepared, with such aids as the Secretary of War can yield in his department ; and from him also you will receive authority to engage among our troops, by voluntary agreement, the number of attendants above mentioned ; over whom you, as their commanding officer, are invested with all the powers the laws give in such a case. "As your movements, while within the limits of the United States, will be better directed by occasional communications, adapted to circumstances as they arise, they will not be noticed here. What follows is with respect to your proceedings after your departure from the United States. "Your mission has been communicated to the ministers here from France, Spain, and Great Britain, and through them to their governments; and such assurances given them, as to its objects, as we trust will satisfy them. The country of Louisiana having been ceded by Spain to France, the passport you have from the Minister of France, the representative of the present sovereign of the coun- try, will be a protection with all its subjects; and that from the Minister of England will entitle you to the friendly aid of any traders of that allegiance with whom you may happen to meet. "The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River, and such principal streams of it as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct and prac- ticable water communication across the continent, for the purposes of commerce. "Beginning at the mouth of the Missouri, you will take observa- tions of latitude and longitude, at all remarkable points on the river, and especially at the mouths of rivers, at rapids, at islands, and other places and objects distinguished by such natural marks and characters, of a durable kind, as that they may with certainty be recognized hereafter. The courses of the river between these points of observation may be supplied by the compass, the log-line, and by time, corrected by the observations themselves. The varia- tions of the needle, too, in different places, should be noticed. "The interesting points of the portage between the heads of the Missouri, and of the waters offering the best communication with the Pacific Ocean, should also be fixed by observation; and the course of that water to the ocean, in the same manner as that of the Missouri. "Your observations are to be taken with great pains and accu- racy; to be entered distinctly and intelligibly for others as well as yourself, to comprehend all the elements necessary, with the aid DISCOVERY AND DESCRIPTION 5 of the usual tables, to fix the latitude and longitude of the places at which they were taken, and are to be rendered to the War Office, for the purpose of having the calculations made concurrently by proper persons within the United States. Several copies of these, as well as of your other notes, should be made at leisure times, and put into the care of the most trustworthy of your attendants to guard, by multiplying them, against the accidental losses to which they will be exposed. A further guard would be, that one of these copies be on the cuticular membranes of the paper-birch, as less liable to injury from damp than common paper. "The commerce which may be carried on with the people inhab- iting the line you will pursue renders a knowledge of those people important. You will therefore endeavor to make yourself ac- quainted, as far as a diligent pursuit of your journey shall admit, with the names of the nations and their numbers : "The extent and limits of their possessions; "Their relations with other tribes or nations; "Their language, traditions, monuments; "Their ordinary occupation in agriculture, fishing, hunting, war, arts, and the implements of these; "Their food, clothing, and domestic accommodations; "The diseases prevalent among them, and the remedies they use; "Moral and physical circumstances which distinguish them from the tribes we know; "Peculiarities in their laws, customs and dispositions; "The articles of commerce they may need or furnish, and to what extent. "And, considering the interest which every nation has in ex- tending and strengthening the authority of reason and justice among the people around them, it will be useful to acquire what knowledge you can of the state of morality, religion, and informa- tion among them; as it may better enable those who may endeavor to civilize and instruct them to adapt their measures to the exist- ing notions and practices of those on whom they are to operate. "Other objects worthy of notice will be: "The soil and face of the country, its growth and vegetable pro- ductions, especially those not of the United States; "The animals of the country generally, and especially those not known in the United States; "The remains and accounts of any which may be deemed rare or extinct ; "The mineral productions of every kind, but more particularly metals, lime-stones, pit-coal, saltpetre; salines and mineral waters, 6 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO noting the temperature of the last, and such circumstances as may indicate their character; "Volcanic appearances ; "Climate, as characterized by the thermometer, by the propor- tion of rainy, cloudy, and clear days; by lightning, hail, snow, ice; by the access and recess of frost; by the winds prevailing at dif- ferent seasons; the dates at which particular plants put forth, or lose their flower or leaf; times of appearance of particular birds, reptiles or insects. "Although your route will be along the channel of the Missouri, yet you will endeavor to inform yourself, by inquiry, of the char- acter and extent of the country watered by its branches, and es- pecially on its southern side. The North River, or Rio Bravo, which runs into the Gulf of Mexico, and the North River, or Rio Colorado, which runs into the Gulf of California, are understood to be the principal streams heading opposite to the waters of the Missouri, and running southwardly. Whether the dividing grounds between the Missouri and them are mountains or flat lands, what are their distance from the Missouri, the character of the interme- diate country, and the people inhabiting it, are worthy of particu- lar inquiry. The northern waters of the Missouri are less to be inquired after, because they have been ascertained to a considerable degree, and are still in a course of ascertainment by English traders and travellers; but if you can learn anything certain of the most northern sources of the Mississippi, and of its position relatively to the Lake of the Woods, it will be interesting to us. Some account, too, of the path of the Canadian traders from the Mississippi at the mouth of the Ouisconsing to where it strikes the Missouri, and of the soil and rivers in its course, is desirable. "In all your intercourse with the natives, treat them in the most friendly and conciliatory manner which their own conduct will ad- mit; allay all jealousies as to the object of your journey; satisfy them of its innocence; make them acquainted with the position, ex- tent, character, peaceable and commercial dispositions of the United States; of our wish to be neighborly, friendly and useful to them, and of our dispositions to a commercial intercourse with them; con- fer with them on the points most convenient as mutual emporiums, and the articles of most desirable interchange for them and us. If a few of their influential chiefs, within practicable distance, wish to visit us, arrange such a visit with them, and furnish them with authority to call on our officers on their entering the United States, to have them conveyed to this place at the public expense. If any of them should wish to have some of their young people brought up with us, and taught such arts as may be useful to them, we will re- DISCOVERY AND DESCRIPTION 7 ceive, instruct, and take care of them. Such a mission, whether of influential chiefs, or of young people, would give some security to your own party. Carry with you some matter of the kine-pox; inform those of them with whom you may be of its efficacy as a preservative from the small-pox, and instruct and encourage them in the use of it. This may be especially done wherever you winter. "As it is impossible for us to foresee in what manner you will be received by those people, whether with hospitality or hostility, so is it impossible to prescribe the exact degree of perseverance with which you are to pursue your journey. We value too much the lives of citizens to offer them to probable destruction. Your numbers will be sufficient to secure you against the unauthorized opposition of individuals, or of small parties; but if a superior force, author- ized or unauthorized, by a nation, should be arrayed against your further passage, and inflexibly determined to arrest it, you must decline its further pursuit and return. In the loss of yourselves, we should lose also the information you will have acquired. By returning safely with that, you may enable us to renew this essay with better calculated means. To your own discretion, therefore, must be left the degree of danger you may risk, and the point at which you should decline, only saying, we wish you to err on the side of your safety and to bring back your party safe, even if it be with less information. "As far up the Missouri as the white settlements extend, an in- tercourse will probably be found to exist between them and the Spanish posts of St. Louis opposite Cahokia, or St. Genevieve op- posite Kaskaskia. From still further up the river, the traders may furnish a conveyance for letters. Beyond that you may perhaps be able to engage Indians to bring letters for the government to Cahokia, or Kaskaskia, on promising that they shall there receive such special compensation as you shall have stipulated with them. Avail yourself of these means to communicate with us, at seasonable intervals, a copy of your journal, notes and observations of every kind, putting into cipher whatever might do injury if betrayed. "Should you reach the Pacific Ocean, inform yourself of the cir- cumstances which may decide whether the furs of those parts may not be collected as advantageously at the head of the Missouri (con- venient as is supposed to the waters of the Colorado and Oregon or Columbia) as at Nootka Sound, or any other point of that coast, and that trade be consequently conducted through the Missouri and United States more beneficially than by the circumnavigation now practiced. "On your arrival on that coast, endeavor to learn if there be any port within your reach frequented by the sea vessels of any 8 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO nation, and to send two of your trusty people back by sea, in such way as shall appear practicable, with a copy of your notes; and should you be of the opinion that the return of your party by the way they went will be imminently dangerous, then ship the whole, and return by sea, by the way either of Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope, as you shall be able. As you will be without money, clothes or provisions, you must endeavor to use the credit of the United States to obtain them; for which purpose open letters of credit will be furnished you, authorizing you to draw on the exec- utive of the United States, or any of its officers, in any part of the world, on which draughts can be disposed of, and to apply with our recommendations to the consuls, agents, merchants, or citizens of any nation with which we have intercourse, assuring them, in our name, that any aids they may furnish you shall be honourably re- paid, and on demand. Our consuls, Thomas Hewes, at Batavia in Java, William Buchanan, in the Isles of France and Bourbon, and John Elmalie, at the Cape of Good Hope, will be able to supply you necessities, by draughts on us. "Should you find it safe to return by the way you go, after send- ing two of your party round by sea, or with your whole party, if no conveyance by sea can be found, do so; making such observa- tions on your return as may serve to supply, correct, or confirm those made on your outward journey. "On re-entering the United States and reaching a place of safety, discharge any of your attendants who may desire and deserve it, procuring for them immediate payment of all arrears of pay and clothing which may have accrued since their departure, and as- sure them that they shall be recommended to the liberality of the legislature for the grant of a soldier's portion of land each, as proposed in my message to Congress, and repair yourself, with your papers, to the seat of government. "To provide, on the accident of your death, against anarchy, dis- persion and the consequent danger to your party, and total failure of the enterprise, you are hereby authorized, by any instrument signed and in your own hand, to name the person among them who shall succeed to the command on your decease, and by like instru- ments to change the nomination from time to time, as further ex- perience of the characters accompanying you shall point out su- perior fitness; and all the powers and authorities given to yourself are, in the event of your death, transferred to, and vested in the successor so named, with further power to him and his successors, in like manner to name each his successor, who, on the death of his predecessor, shall be invested with all the powers and authorities given to yourself. DISCOVERY AND DESCRIPTION 9 "Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this twentieth day of June, 1803. (Signed) "THOMAS JEFFERSON, "President of the United States of America." (Before this expedition started, France had ceded the Louisiana Purchase to the United States. Writer.) It is not our purpose to give any detailed descriptions of this great exploring trip, as it has already been published in detail from a daily diary kept by Captains Lewis and Clark while on this mem- orable trip through a country inhabited only by uncivilized Indians and wild animals. This trip consumed about two and one-half years' time. The first Winter they stopped on the Missouri River; the second they spent on the banks of the Columbia near where it empties into the Pacific. They returned the following Spring. Suffice it to say, we consider this one of the most hazardous and yet the best man- aged expeditions that was ever made in the United States, and all credit is due to the cool, brave and intelligent management of Cap- tains Lewis and Clark. It was a complete success in every essential particular, and secured to the people of the United States such a knowledge of this Northwestern Territory that they were induced to undertake the settlement and reclaiming of it from the savages and from the claims of Great Britain and Spain. It has been said by some that when President Jefferson sent his confidential message to Congress January, 1803, asking for an ap- propriation of twenty-five hundred dollars to fit out the Lewis and Clark expedition, Congress refused the appropriation upon the ground that the country was worthless. This is an error. Congress doubled the amount asked for and gave him five thousand dollars to fit out the expedition. (See page 496, Jefferson Cyclopedia, edited by John P. Foley, 1900. This we consider correct.) The next thing of importance done by Americans in the North- west, was the establishment of a trading and supply post in 1811 on the Columbia, at the point where now stands the town of Astoria. This post was established by a detachment of the American Fur Com- pany, of which John Jacob Astor of New York was the head, but before this time, many of the French Canadians and some of the British had commenced trapping and trading with the Indians along the coast and up the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, and also in the interior of the country. The coming of the American Fur Company created a sharp com- petition in the trade for furs with the Indians, the first traders hav- ing the advantage in knowing the country, the ways and customs of the Indians, and some of these men had also taken Indian wives. 10 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Altogether, the advantges were decidedly in favor of the British company. This competition caused a large cut in the price of goods sold to Indians, and, correspondingly, a large increase in the price paid for skins and furs, all combining to make it an unprofitable business for the American Fur Company. This, coupled with the unfriendly treatment they received from the traders and the Indians, caused the Americans to return from the Pacific coast in 1814. In the meantime, the question as to whom this western territory belonged, began to be agitated. The British claimed it; Spain had some claim, and Russia and also the Americans. At last it became necessary for the home governments to come to some definite under- standing as to the rights of the people. The matter was taken up by the British government and by the United States, and a treaty ratified October 20, 1818, whereby it was agreed that the territory should be occupied jointly by the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States for ten years from that date. (See Article 3, page 299, Revised Treaties United States.) In 1819, Spain ceded all of her right to this Northwestern Territory, north of the 42nd parallel, to the United States. (See Revised Treaties U. S., p. 712, February 22, 1819.) In 1824, Russia ceded all of her right to the United States, south of the 54' 40" parallel (see p. 664, Revised Treaties, April 5, 1824,) leaving only the United States and Great Britain contending for this great Northwestern Territory. On May 15, 1828, the treaty of agreement for joint oc- cupation of this territory between the United States and Great Britain was renewed, and was extended indefinitely, subject to be annulled by either of the contracting parties after giving the other twelve months' notice. (See p. 311, Revised Treaties United States, Articles 1, 2, 3 and 4.) CHAPTER II. HUDSON BAY COMPANY AND ORGANIZATION OF THE PROVISIONAL GOV- ERNMENT IN OREGON. About the year 1821, what is familiarly known as the Hudson Bay Company, was organized a British corporation with plenty of money, whose object doubtless was to absorb and monopolize all of the trade with the Indians in the Northwest Territory, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast. Soon after this organization was effected, Dr. John McLoughlin was placed at the head of the company as general manager. He was a very brave, good and far- seeing, shrewd business man, and while always kind and generous to needy American emigrants, he never lost sight of the main object of his company, which was to hold all the Indian trade and discourage emigrants from settling in Oregon. Dr. McLoughlin built and established his headquarters at what is now known as Vancouver on the north bank of the Columbia River, now in the State of Washing- ton. This place was soon stocked with all necessary supplies and plenty of such goods as were needed for Indian trade. Very soon after this, the Hudson Bay Company had control of all the Indian trade throughout the Northwestern Territory. The employees, consisting of English, French, Canadians and Indians, traversed the country in different sections from the Rocky Moun- tains to the Pacific coast, with the object in view of controlling the entire fur trade which was very large and remunerative. So com- plete was this organization in all its details, that any and all Amer- icans who ventured to take part in this fur trade, were soon com- pelled to quit. The competition was too great for them. But this did not deter the Americans from making their way across the plains, as it was then called, with their ox teams and bringing their families to settle and make homes in the far northwest. Captain Bonneville of the U. S. A., was given leave of absence to explore the Northwest in 1832, and with about ninety men, he crossed the plains and came as far west as the Columbia River. Later, others came to stay. Many who came between the years 1836 and 1843, received valuable assistance in the way of provisions and seed from the kind-hearted and generous Dr. McLoughlin, who could not bear to see emigrant families suffer. However, things generally were in a very unsatisfactory condition, especially for the Americans. Governor McLoughlin, as he was sometimes called, seems to have 12 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO had some rules or regulations by which he governed his men and employees, including the Indians, but the Americans had neither laws, rules nor regulations of any kind to restrain them from doing violence to themselves and others. They seemed, however, to have been a good and orderly set of people; still there was a great deal of dissatisfaction, especially in regard to the Hudson Bay Company, which acted as if they owned the whole country, while the Americans considered the country as belonging to the United States and that they had the best right; and last, but not least, it was claimed by the native Indians who had occupied the country long before the advent of the white man. Our United States government had not by action of Congress or in any other way made an effort to settle the title of ownership of this northwestern country, between the United States and Great Britain, excepting the agreement of joint occupancy made in 1828. Neither had our government furnished any protection or passed any laws to organize a government for the people who had braved so many hardships in coming to this western country and reclaimed the uncultivated land. These brave pioneers had sent petitions to the President and to Congress asking for protection and organization of the territory, but for some unknown reason, they received no re- sponse. Surrounded as they were by British subjects, half-breeds and French Canadians, they were necessarily compelled to organize, for self -protection, an American Provisional Government. On May 20th, 1843, the Americans met at a place near where Salem now stands, Shampoig, and organized their provisional gov- ernment. This government consisted of an executive board of three men, a judge, a sheriff and a legislature. Oregon City was desig- nated as the temporary capital. At the first session of the legisla- ture, held in Oregon City, in a rough board carpenter shop, some wholesome laws were enacted. In this legislature there chanced to be a man from Iowa who had brought a copy of the laws of Iowa with him. The legislature passed an act adopting all the laws in that statute that might be applicable or suitable to their provisional government. This government gave general satisfaction and continued until 1846, when it was decided to abolish the executive committee of three and elect a Governor. Hon. George Abernathy was elected Gover- nor and a better selection could not have been made, for he was a brave, intelligent, far-seeing, honorable man. The officers and members of the legislature were honorable, intelligent, brave men, willing to give their best service free, for the good of their country and the protection of the lives and property of the citizens of the far west. OREGON'S PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT IS Sitting in this crude carpenter shop, these noble pioneers inaugu- rated and put into operation the same kind of a government that our forefathers did in the time of the Revolutionary war. Though on a smaller scale, yet they laid the foundation well, and we now have from their noble work the grand and prosperous States of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and a part of Montana and Wyoming. CHAPTER III. CAPTAIN WYETH, REVEREND ^WHITMAN AND OTHER MISSIONARIES, AGENT WHITE AND INDIANS. In the fall of 1832, Captain Nathaniel Wyeth with ten men ar- rived at Fort Vancouver, having come overland from Boston with the intention of establishing trading posts in the Northwest. A company in Boston was to send a ship loaded with necessary supplies to meet them at Vancouver. Long and anxiously Captain Wyeth and his men waited for the ship that never came. At last in the Spring of 1833, Captain Wyeth concluded the ship had been lost at sea and with some of his men, returned overland to the east. During his stay at Vancouver, Dr. McLoughlin treated him very cordially but never encouraged him to remain or asked him to try and get people from the east to emigrate to the west. On the con- trary, the good Doctor always discouraged such emigration. Cap- tain Wyeth, however, realized the possibilities of the West and in 1834 returned overland and a ship was sent loaded with supplies and merchandise for trading, including a few live goats, sheep and chickens. A number of men were with Captain Wyeth on this trip. Among them were the Rev. Jason Lee, Cyrus Shepherd and T. L. Edwards. These three men came to do missionary work and were the first missionaries to come to Oregon. Captain Wyeth selected a site for his headquarters on an island called Wapato near the junction of the Willamette River with the Columbia. Here he built his fort and headquarters and also located different points for trading and trapping. One of the places he se- lected for a trading post was the site of old Fort Hall on Snake River, now in Idaho. He built a trading post at this place in 1834. But wherever Captain Wyeth undertook to build up a trade with the Indians, the Hudson Bay Company would soon open an opposition trading post near by and reduce the selling price of goods and in- crease the price paid to the Indians for their furs and skins. The Hudson Bay Company's men consisted principally of English, French, Canadians and Indians ; men who were well acquainted with the country and with the various tribes of Indians. All of these things, combined with the loss of many men, some by deserting and others being killed, tended to work against Captain Wyeth and at the end of two years, he was forced to sell to the Hudson Bay Com- pany for what they would give him, and return to the East. During this time, the Rev. Jason Lee and the other missionaries CAPTAIN WYETH'S EXPEDITIONS 15 had been busy establishing a missionary post in the Willamette Val- ley at a place called Shampoeg. They succeeded very well and did not have any serious trouble with the Indians. In the year 1836, the Rev. Spalding and wife and Rev. Dr. Mar- cus Whitman and wife, with a few others, crossed the plains. They also came with the intention of establishing missionary posts. On reaching Wallula where the Hudson Bay Company had a station, they were met by Superintendent Panbrum who gave them a kindly greeting and treated them right royally. After a short rest from their long and dangerous trip, Superintendent Panbrum furnished transportation for them in a small boat down the Columbia River to Vancouver, to Dr. McLoughlin's headquarters. The Doctor having been advised of their coming, met them with outstretched hands and treated them in a very hospitable manner. Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spalding were the first white women who ever came from the Eastern States overland to Oregon. Dr. McLoughlin, knowing that these missionaries had come to educate and civilize the Indians and that they would not inter- fere with the interests of the Hudson Bay Company, was delighted to see them. He treated them very kindly. After a few days' rest and advising with the Doctor, they began to look for the best loca- tion for missionary posts. They had been advised to go into the Walla Walla country, as there were more Indians there and they were also a more intelligent class and could be civilized more readily than those farther west. Dr. McLoughlin assisted them in outfitting for the trip and insisted upon their wives staying with his family during their absence. After examining the country up the Columbia and the Snake, they concluded to locate and build missionary posts, one to be built about twenty-five miles east of old Fort Wallula and about six miles west of where Walla Walla now stands. This was to be the head station of the Presbyterian mission in Oregon. This is now usually called the old Whitman mission. Another site was selected about twelve miles above where Lewiston now stands. This mission was on the Clearwater and was called Lapwai. Mr. Spalding and his wife were to be stationed at this point. These two missions were about one hundred and twenty miles apart. After having located these missions, the missionaries returned to Vancouver to procure tools and supplies to build the stations. The Doctor and his family had been very kind to their wives dur- ing their absence and assisted them in every way in securing sup- plies and a suitable outfit for their new homes. The missionaries with their families reached their new homes without serious mishap and began the work of building. For the 16 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO first year everything seemed prosperous. The Indians were pleased to have the opportunity to learn something of the white man's re- ligion and were especially pleased to have their children educated. The Reverend Doctors Whitman and Spalding brought their wagons through to Walla Walla Valley. These were the first emi- grant wagons that were ever brought west of Green River. Now in Wyoming they opened up a road for wagons from Green River to Walla Walla Valley, a distance of seven hundred and fifty miles, which included the cutting of the timber out across the Blue Mountains for at least twenty miles in order to get their wagons across the mountain. For this and for many other things these good men did, their memory should be reverenced by us all. We must not overlook the fact that during this time the Meth- odist missionaries, the Rev. Jason Lee and his associates, had not been idle. They had established their main mission at Shampoeg, and branch missions at The Dalles and other points. Dr. Whit- man's post was near the lands claimed and owned by the Cayuse Indians, a large tribe numbering several thousand. In addition to these, there were several small bands of the Umatilla and Yakima Indians who roamed over that part of the country. The Rev. Spalding's station was located in the most central part of the Nez Perce Indian settlement. The Nez Perce Indians were the most intelligent Indians on the Pacific coast and numbered several thou- sand. They had possession of all the country that is now Latah, Nez Perce and Idaho Counties in Idaho, and in Oregon, the Grand Ronde and Wallowa Valleys. In 1838, Dr. Whitman established another branch station on a branch of the Spokane River in what is now Washington State, about forty miles from Old Fort Colville, a Hudson Bay fort. The Reverends Elkland, Walker and Gush- ing Eells were placed in charge. This part of the country was occupied by the Spokane Indians. Still another branch station was established in 1839 about fifty miles northeast of Lapwai, called Kamia. This branch was for the benefit of the Nez Perces and was placed in charge of A. B. Smith. The wives of these missionaries were with them and assisted in teaching the Indians. There were also a few other Americans at each of these stations. All of these missions received assistance from the missionary board in the east. Necessary supplies were shipped to them to Vancouver and from there taken to the respective stations by canoes and pack animals. In the year 1838, the Reverend Fathers F. M. Blanchet and Mo- diste Demers came into the Walla Walla country from Canada and stopped a few days with some French Canadians who were lo- CAPTAIN WYETH'S EXPEDITIONS 17 cated a few miles from the Whitman mission. The Reverend Fathers met many of the Indians during their brief visit and a great number accepted the Catholic faith. The Fathers also se- lected a site for a mission to be built in the near future. Soon after this the Indians who frequented the Whitman mis- sion began to show signs of discontent and complaints were made that Dr. Whitman had not paid them anything for their land. They began obstructing his irrigating ditches, turning their horses in his fields and annoying him in many ways. I am inclined to think that most of the trouble with the Indians at this time was caused by the inability of Dr. Whitman and Rev. Samuel Parker to keep a promise made to the Nez Perce and Flathead Indians in 1835. At that time the missionaries talked over the matter of establishing missions in Oregon with the Indians and promised they would pay for all the land taken by Americans. The Indians had communi- cated this promise to all the other Indian tribes. No blame, how- ever, could be attached to the course the missionaries pursued, for this reason: Our American Congress had failed to make any pro- vision for extinguishing the title of the Indians to any part of the land or to furnish any assistance or protection to missionaries or to any other person in this northwestern country. Hence a great deal of friction was caused. Things continued in this unsatisfactory condition until 1842, when Dr. White came to Oregon with other emigrants. The Doc- tor held some kind of a commission from the U. S. government as an Indian Agent. He was expected to treat and keep peace with the Indians, but he had no troops for protection and neither money nor goods to satisfy the Indians. In the meantime, Dr. Whitman had received orders from the head mission in Boston to abandon his missionary post. After talking the matter over with Dr. White, he concluded that by going east he might induce the government to render some needed assistance in the way of furnishing troops for protection and means to pay the Indians for their claims to the land. He also believed the home mission in Boston would be willing to pay for at least a part of the land. So he lost no time in pre- paring for the trip overland. William Geiger was placed in charge of the mission and Mrs. Whitman also remained at the mission. It seems almost impossible to imagine how Dr. Whitman could leave his wife at that dangerous place and undertake such a long, hard trip. But Dr. Whitman was a brave, good man and believed it his duty to go and plead for the white settlers of the west. On October 3rd, 1842, accompanied by A. L. Lovejoy, an Amer- ican, and two or three half-breed guides, he started on his long journey. They crossed the Blue Mountains via old Fort Hall and His-2 18 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Fort Benton to Santa Fe. At Santa Fe Lovejoy and the guides stopped and Whitman joined a trading company going to St. Louis. He arrived at St. Louis in March, 1843, and hurried on to Washing- ton. There he found that he was not alone in his desire to help the western settlers. Petitions had been pouring in to Congress from Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and other States, insisting upon the United States taking the necessary steps to occupy Oregon. When Dr. Whitman learned what influence had been brought to bear on Con- gress, and without success, he began for the first time to realize how hopeless it was for him to plead for aid for Oregon. His mission in Washington resulting in a failure, he turned to the home mission in Boston. From there he received the discouraging answer: "If you cannot protect yourself and make your missionary post self-sustaining, abandon it." This was certainly cold comfort and enough to discourage any man. But Dr. Whitman with his in- domitable will, determined not to give up. He went to his old home in New York and from the sale of a small amount of property which he had left there when he first went West, managed to get enough money to buy an outfit for himself and a nephew to return to Oregon. They started out alone with saddle and pack horses. At the Platte River they overtook some emigrants and traveled with them to his mission near where Walla Walla now stands. In the meantime, all had not been serene at the mission. The Indians had made a raid on the mission and burned the grist mill and some other buildings. Mrs. Whitman, Mr. Geiger and the other occupants of the mission had made their escape under cover of the night through the bushes to the Hudson Bay fort at Wallula on the Columbia River. The Hudson Bay Company took them in and later furnished them transportation to the Methodist mission at The Dalles, where Mrs. Whitman remained until her husband re- turned the following year. About the time this raid was made, the Nez Perce Indians at Lapwai showed hostile demonstrations towards Rev. Spalding and his wife. Indian Agent White, hearing of this trouble, called to- gether some of the influential citizens who were well known to the Indians. Several of these men belonged to the Hudson Bay Com- pany. These men went to the Whitman mission first, but the In- dians would not talk with them. They then proceeded to the Lapwai mission, and after several days council with the head chiefs, suc- ceeded in getting them to agree to keep peace with the whites. Agent White is certainly entitled to great credit for his manage- ment of this affair, and all the men with him well deserve our praise. It is a well-known fact that on such occasions the Indians expect presents and a promise of more in the future. Agent White did CAPTAIN WYETH'S EXPEDITIONS 19 not have the means to make contributions. However, it seems he had in some way managed to secure about fifty garden hoes and some medicine, and these he left to be distributed among the In- dians after making the peace treaty. These presents were to be given by Mr. Spalding to the Indians who would work. This pleased the Indians very much. After the treaty they had a feast and smoked the pipe of peace. The agent and his men then returned to the Whitman mission and after much talk, the Cayuse Indians finally gave their pledge to keep peace with the Americans. On the return of the agent to The Dalles, he found there had been some disturbance at this agency with the Indians. After a four days' conference with these Indians, he finally persuaded them to agree to keep peace with the Americans. Other disturbances be- tween the Indians and the missionaries at Astoria were settled by Agent White. It is wonderful how Agent White succeeded in quieting these dis- turbances when we consider he was not provided with either money or protection to enforce his will. He seems to have been a man of wonderful resources and equal to every emergency. About the first of October, 184-3, Dr. Whitman arrived at the Whitman mission. The only encouragement he had received for his long, hard trip was the large number of emigrants who had come to Oregon that year. At least eight or nine hundred people had come to the far western country. Of these about two hundred and sixty-five were men. The majority of these emigrants would rest for a while at the Whitman mission and then move on to the Willamette Valley. The Doctor failed to induce any of them to settle at his mission. He remained, however, at his post of duty in spite of the danger from hostile Indians and many other difficulties. Rev. Spalding also still worked faithfully at his mission in Lapwai. As we intended to give only a brief history of Oregon, we will now pass rapidly on. CHAPTER IV. SETTLEMENT OF THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN CAYUSE WAR MURDER OP DR. WHITMAN MEEK'S TRIP TO WASHINGTON CONGRESS PASSES ACT ORGANIZING OREGON TERRITORY JOSEPH LANE APPOINTED GOVERNOR JO- SEPH MEEK APPOINTED U. S. MARSHAL ARRIVAL AT OREGON CITY. Early in the year 1846, a treaty was made between Great Britain and the United States. This treaty gave to the United States all land south and west of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, between the 42nd and the 49th parallels, except the holdings of the Hudson Bay Company and the holdings of the Puget Sound Agri- cultural Company, with an agreement that the United States might purchase these holdings in the future if they desired. This treaty was concluded at Washington, D. C., June 15, 1846, was ratified by the Senate June 18, 1846, approved by the President June 19, 1846, and proclaimed August 5, 1846. (See Revised Statutes of the United States, pages 320, 321 and 322, Articles I, II, III and IV.) July 1, 1863, a treaty of agreement was made by the United States with Great Britain to purchase the Hudson Bay Company's and the Puget Sound Agricultural Company's land holdings, at a valuation to be fixed by the commissioners. This, however, was not done until September 10, 1863. (See pages 346, 347 and 348, Re- vised Treaties of the United States.) The value of the Hudson Bay Company's property was fixed at four hundred and fifty thousand dollars gold coin, and the holdings of the Puget Sound Agricultu- ral Company's at two hundred thousand dollars. One-half of these amounts was to be paid in one year, and the remainder to be paid in two years from the date of the award. So it was some time be- fore all British claims were extinguished in the Northwestern Ter- ritory. The old Hudson Bay fort at Vancouver was, however, oc- cupied by the United States several years before this final adjust- ment was made. We must now turn our attention to the emigration to Oregon and the troubles with the Indians there. Emigrants still continued to come overland to Oregon in consid- erable numbers. No disturbance of any great importance occurred until the fall of 1847. That year many of the emigrants who came had the measles. The Indians contracted this disease and many of them died, owing to their custom of taking cold water baths while having a high fever. In vain Dr. Whitman remonstrated with them BOUNDARY LINE SETTLED 21 and tried to relieve them with proper remedies, but they would not heed his advice. The cold water baths were continued, resulting in the death of many of the Indians. The good Doctor and his wife were unceasing in their efforts to assist the sick Indians. There were also at this time about sixty emigrants at the mission who ex- pected to spend the winter there. This also seemed to arouse the anger of the Indians, and they began accusing the Doctor and his wife of bringing people there to take their land and of poisoning the Indians so that the white men could have the land. On the afternoon of the 29th of November, 1847, while Doctor and Mrs. Whitman were attending the sick in their home, and sev- eral of the white men stopping there were dressing a beef which they had killed, a number of Cayuse warriors came upon them and perpetrated one of the most fearful massacres of innocent, defence- less people. They killed Dr. Whitman and his wife and eleven of the men and boys. Two young girls who were sick upstairs were left uncared for until they died, making a total of fifteen innocent people murdered. About thirteen people escaped by running to the brush and hiding. They gradually made their way to the Hudson Bay Company's fort at Wallula, where they were kindly treated. A few of those who escaped, made their way to the Lapwai mission. The remainder of the people at the Whitman mission, about thirty- four in number, mostly women and girls, were taken prisoners and treated in a most heartless manner. While this cruel work was going on at the Whitman agency, Dr. Spalding of the Lapwai agency was down the Umatilla River on some business and did not hear of the massacre until the next day. He managed to elude the Cayuse Indians by leaving his horse and taking to the brush, hiding in the daytime and traveling at night. Without food, sore-footed and worn, he finally reached Snake River, near where Lewiston now stands. Here he met a few friendly Nez Perce Indians who set him across the river. These Indians told him that his wife and children had been removed from the mission but they could not or would not tell him where. So he went on, not knowing where to find them. Finally he was overtaken by two friendly Nez Perce squaws on horseback, who told him that his wife and children had been taken to William Craig's place several miles away and were safe. Mr. Spalding was nearly worn out, starved and foot-sore, having had to throw away his old boots. One of the squaws, seeing his pitiable condition, allowed him to ride be- hind her and took him safely to his wife and children. Mr. Craig, who had protected Mrs. Spalding and her children, was a good and intelligent white man who had come into the Nez Perce country some years before. His wife was a half-breed woman. 22 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO The Indians seem to have liked Mr. Craig and his wife and wanted him to settle among them. He and his wife were very kind to Mr. Spalding and family and took care of them until at last the Indians consented to their leaving the ranch and returning to the white settlement. As soon as the news of the Whitman massacre reached Fort Van- couver, James Douglas, who was then in command (Dr. McLough- lin having resigned some time before), sent a special messenger to Governor Abernathy at Oregon City informing him of the mas- sacre and also that Peter Skean Ogden, second in command of the Hudson Bay Company, would leave Fort Vancouver as soon as pos- sible with a small party of men for the scene of the massacre. The legislature of the Provisional Government was called in session im- mediately and Governor Abernathy stated to them what had oc- curred. The government was without money and no place to bor- row. There were no United States troops, no organized militia and but few men who could be spared from the other settlements, for all had to constantly guard their homes lest the Indians should come upon them at any time. They had neither arms nor ammunition, excepting what the emigrants had brought across the plains, and yet in spite of all these adverse conditions, the legislature with the assistance of the women of Oregon did devise ways and means to equip a company and start them out the second day after receiv- ing the news of the massacre. And later they sent other volunteers to the scene of the trouble. But before the volunteers could reach the mission with their slow mode of transportation, Mr. Ogden with his small party from Vancouver had arrived, held a council with the Indians and succeeded in having them surrender to him all of the captive women and children taken at the Whitman station. He also persuaded the Nez Perce Indians to bring the Rev. Spalding, his wife and children and other captives they held, down to old Fort Wallula where they were met by Captain Ogden with his party and all the captives from the Whitman mission. Captain Ogden was a man of great ability and undaunted cour- age. In negotiating with the Indians for the release of the cap- tives and in order to save their lives and have them released as soon as possible, he gave to the Cayuse Indians, for the release of all their white prisoners, about fifty blankets, fifty shirts, some handkerchiefs, a quantity of tobacco and a few guns and ammuni- tion. A smaller amount was given to the Nez Perce Indians for the release of the prisoners taken at the Lapwai mission. It should be stated that Captain Ogden in negotiating for the ransom of these prisoners, did not promise the Indians that the Americans would not make war on them for the atrocities they had committed. The Whit- BOUNDARY LINE SETTLED 2S man mission captives were surrendered to Captain Ogden December 29, 1847, having been in captivity one month. Having arrived at Fort Wallula, Captain Ogden had boats pre- pared and started out with the captives, about fifty-seven in all. He landed them safely at Oregon City and left them in care of Gover- nor Abernathy, who, with the assistance of the good people of Ore- gon, cared and provided for them. James Douglas and Captain Ogden certainly deserve the everlasting gratitude of the American people for the wisdom and bravery they displayed in rescuing these captives from the Indians. The volunteers proceeded into the country occupied by the Cay- use Indians and had a few running fights with them, killing a few and capturing some of their horses. Believing that the actual murderers at the Whitman massacre had gone to the mountains and not being prepared to follow such a long distance, it was decided after a short campaign to leave a por- tion of the volunteers at the Whitman station permanently or until the United States government should furnish protection, and the re- mainder of the company returned to Oregon City, where they dis- banded. In the meantime, preparations were being made to send Joseph L. Meek to Washington to try and persuade the President and Con- gress to do something for Oregon in the way of organizing a ter- ritorial government and giving them some protection. Joseph Meek started on this long journey March 4, 1848. He was accompanied by eight men who desired to return to the East. His route was across the Blue Mountains via old Fort Boise, Fort Hall, Bear River Station, Fort Bridger, Fort Laramie, the Platte and Ash Hollow. Each of these stations was occupied by trapping traders. Fortunately Mr. Meek had been a trapper some years be- fore, so found friends at each station who were glad to have him and his companions rest for a few days with them and furnished them with fresh horses and supplies. Mr. Meek and his companions were compelled to leave their horses at Bear River and make snow shoes of willows to cross the Rocky Mountains, carrying with them only their guns and blankets. For food they secured what they could in the snowy country with their guns and at this time of the year, game was very scarce. Two of the men stopped at old Fort Boise and two more at Bear River, reducing his party to five. On the 4th of May, Meek and his party arrived at the Missouri River where he met a party of emigrants bound for Oregon. At this place Meek separated from his companions and went on to Washington alone. He arrived there about the 25th of May, 1848. He at once called upon President Polk and delivered the official 84 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO documents he carried, from Governor Abernathy and from the Ore- gon legislature. He explained in detail the situation of the people in the Northwest and all about the country. President Polk not only listened to all Mr. Meek had to say about the country, but treated him in a royal manner, having him make his home at the White House while in Washington. It is said that Jo Meek was a cousin to the President's wife and this assisted him in his talk with the President. But one thing is certain, Jo Meek was one of the most noble of men, brave, strong, honest, untiring, kind-hearted and possessed of a great amount of natural ability. Meek's arrival had the effect of arousing the authorities at Wash- ington and on the 29th of May, 1848, President Polk sent a special message to both branches of Congress, uring them to pass an act creating a government for Oregon and provide protection for the people. On August 14, 1848, the act was passed, commonly called the Organic act of Congress, creating and organizing the Territory of Oregon, which territory included all west of the Rocky Moun- tains to the Pacific Ocean, and north to the 49th parallel, and south to the 42nd parallel, or to the California line. General Joseph Lane, who had served in the Mexican war, was appointed Governor for Oregon, and Joseph L. Meek was appointed United States Marshal. They started soon after for Oregon, overland, with a small escort of United States troops. They took the route via California, and had a hard trip. Some of their escort were killed by Indians and some deserted. They arrived at San Francisco in February, 1849, and took a steamer for Oregon, arriving at Oregon City March 2nd, 1849. The people received them with great enthusiasm. Governor Abernathy immediately turned over the Provisional Government to Governor Lane. On the 3rd of March, 1849, Governor Lane issued his proclama- tion declaring the territory organized and under the control and laws of the United States. This occurred one day before the close of President Polk's administration. CHAPTER V. GOVERNOR LANE AND OREGON CAPTURE OP THE WHITMAN MURDER- ERS TRIAL, CONVICTION AND EXECUTION. General Lane's office as Governor of Oregon had connected with it the office of Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He deemed it nec- essary for the safety of the people of Oregon to have the leaders of the Whitman massacre captured and punished. In October, 1849, five of the leaders were captured and brought to The Dalles. Gover- nor Lane immediately went to The Dalles with a small escort and brought the Indians to Oregon City where they had a fair trial with good counsel, before a judge and a jury. They were all con- victed of murder in the first degree, upon the testimony of the sur- vivors of the Whitman massacre, and were sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was carried out in a short time. A few months after Governor Lane's arrival, two companies of United States troops were landed at Vancouver. These troops came by water; later other troops came by land. The United States sol- diers aided by Governor Lane's excellent executive ability, kept the Indians at least partly subdued so that the farmers had a little time to look after their farms. We have already given more space than we intended to the early history of Oregon, and must omit many important facts, or an- other volume will be necessary for the history of Idaho. I met many brave, kind and generous people, both men and women, during my residence in Oregon, beginning in 1853 and ending in 1862, with an occasional short visit since, and I would like to say something good and kind about each and all of them, and especially those with whom I was associated during the Indian war of 1855 and 1856, but space forbids. I shall ever cherish kind thoughts for all of them. CHAPTER VI. ORGANIZATION OF WASHINGTON, IDAHO, MONTANA AND WYOMING TER- RITORIES. On March 3, 1853, Congress passed an act known as the Organic act, creating and organizing the Territory of Washington, giving all the territory west of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean to Washington, save and except that part which now constitutes the State of Oregon. On March 3, 1863, Congress passed the Organic act creating and organizing the Territory of Idaho, taking in all that portion of Washington west of the Rocky Mountains save and except that portion which now constitutes the present State of Wash- ington, and also taking in a large tract east of the Rocky Moun- tain range. The eastern boundary is described as follows: Be- ginning at a point on the 49th parallel of latitude at the 27th degree of longitude west of Washington, thence south along said degree of longitude to the northern boundary of Colorado Territory. This eastern boundary of Idaho appears to have extended over on the east side of the Rocky Mountain range and taken in quite a large strip of what was then known as the Louisiana purchase. This made Idaho a very large Territory, but it was not allowed to remain so large long. On March 17, 1864, Congress passed an act creating and organiz- ing the Territory of Montana. This included all that portion of the northeastern portion of Idaho east of the Bitter Root and the Rocky Mountain range, and leaving the line between Idaho and Montana to follow along the summit of the Bitter Root Mountains. Later, in 1868, Congress organized the Territory of Wyoming and took another portion from the southeastern part of Idaho. Since this division, Idaho has been allowed to remain intact, although not in a very handsome shape, being three hundred miles wide at the south end and less than sixty miles at the north end. Hence our designation as the Pan-handle State. Several attempts to still fur- ther divide our State were made, but were unsuccessful. We have now come to the history of Idaho proper. CHAPTER VII. EARLY SETTLERS INDIAN TREATIES MORMON SETTLEMENTS DISCOV- ERY OF GOLD AT FLORENCE, BOISE BASIN AND OTHER PLACES. The first American settlers in Idaho of which we have any posi- tive record were the Reverend Spalding and his family. This pio- neer missionary established a Presbyterian mission in the fall of 1836 on the Clearwater River, about twelve miles above where the city of Lewiston now stands. This mission he called Lapwai. In the year 1839, Rev. Spalding succeeded in having a small printing press brought to this lonely mission from a mission in Hon- olulu. This was the first printing press brought to the Northwest and was a great assistance to Rev. Spalding for he was thus able to print the New Testament and some other books into the Indian language. The Rev. Spalding did some excellent work among the Indians, but in 1847 was forced to leave his mission on account of hostilities owing to some misunderstanding for which Mr. Spalding was not at all responsible. He and his wife went to the Willamette Valley and made that place their home. In 1849, the Rev. Spalding taught school in Linn County, Oregon. The writer's wife was one of his pupils. At that time she was Miss Louisa Griffin, the daughter of Captain B. B. Griffin, who crossed the plains in 1848 and in 1852 removed to Jackson County, where I met his daughter soon after the close of the Indian war of 1855-6, and we were married August 7th, 1856, and are both here yet. The Hudson Bay Company had men trapping in what is now Idaho, early in the twenties, and built old Fort Boise in 1835. Cap- tain Nathaniel Wyeth built old Fort Hall in 1834. None of these were permanent settlers and all left at an early date, except a few Canadian Frenchmen who were closely allied to the Indians. Mr. William Craig, of whom we have spoken before, settled with- in the limits of what is now the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in the early forties, and it seems he was the first permanent white set- tler in what is now Idaho. As early as 1805, when Lewis and Clark made their great ex- ploring trip from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean, they passed through the Nez Perce country, met many of the Indians, traded with them, found them friendly to the whites, and very intelligent people. Lewis and Clark left their saddle and pack horses with these Indians while they made their trip to the Columbia, sailing down the Clearwater, Snake and on to the Columbia river in canoes. 28 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO * In the following Spring when Lewis and Clark came back, their horses and all other equipment were returned to them in good con- dition and the Indians were paid according to agreement. These Nez Perce Indians roamed over and claimed the greater part of what is now called North Idaho and a portion of what is now the northeastern part of Oregon, commonly called the Wallowa Valley. Until the year 1855, there had been no serious trouble between the Indians and the whites, except the Whitman massacre. There had been some individual trouble at various times but all had been settled without any great difficulty. In 1855 they began to grow restive. Governor Stevens of Washington Territory, who was also ex-officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs, went immediately to the Nez Perce country and with the assistance of William Craig and a few other practical men, called the Indians together and made a treaty with them on the 1st of June, 1855. This treaty set apart what is known as the Nez Perce Reserva- tion for the Indians and in consideration of the Indians ceding to the United States the remainder of the land they claimed, the United States was to make them certain annual payments in the way of annuities, establish an agency and Indian schools, to con- tinue for a number of years. At this time the agreement appeared to be satisfactory, but there was one branch of this tribe who made their home in the Wallowa Valley, headed by a brave and wonder- fully sagacious chief named Joseph. This chief claimed that he did not sign the treaty, that his home was in the Wallowa Valley in Oregon, and he would not consent to leave that place and re- move to the reservation selected for him and his people. The other Nez Perce tribes kept the treaty in good faith. We will re- fer to the trouble with Chief Joseph later. The Shoshone and Bannock tribes occupied what is now the southeastern portion of Idaho and the western part of what is now Wyoming. These tribes made a treaty with the United States about the year 1868. In this agreement General Sherman acted for the United States. At this time two reservations were set apart for them, one east of the Rocky Mountain range for the Shoshones, and one in the Portneuf and Snake River country, including the present site of Pocatello, for the Bannocks. One clause in this treaty stated that they should have a reasonable portion of the Kan- sas prairie country and in consideration of their ceding to the United States the remainder of the lands claimed by them, the United States was to establish an agency, give them quite a large amount in annuities, and provide schools for them. The Bannock Indians always claimed that they were to have Camas Prairie. This prairie EARLY SETTLERS 29 lies on the northwest of Snake River about 125 miles from the nearest point to the Bannock Indian Reservation as laid out and surveyed by the government officials. At a later date, according to the survey, the reservation did not cross Snake River. This prairie is about forty miles long and ten miles wide and the Indians, so far as the white men knew, had been in the habit of coming to this prairie every summer to hunt and gather the Camas root a tuberous root of which they are very fond. Natu- rally they did not wish to give up this country, and when the treaty was made, the clause which reads, "reasonable portion of the Kan- sas prairie country," was understood and meant to the Indians a reasonable portion of the Camas Prairie country. The treaty hav- ing been made at some point east of the Rocky Mountains in an early day when but little of the country was known, this mistake in spelling the name "Kansas" instead of "Camas" was easily made. There was, however, no serious trouble with these Indians for many years. EARLY SETTLEMENTS. Going back to the early settling in Idaho, before the country bore the name of Idaho, among those who came some years later than Rev. Spalding were the Jesuit Fathers. These Catholic mis- sionaries came into the northern part of Idaho in the early forties and were very successful in their missionary work among the Indians. A small colony of Mormons also moved into the Lemhi Valley and located at or near where the town of Salmon City now stands. In the year 1854, they were farming and raising stock in that part of the country, but after remaining there about three years, the Indians became so troublesome they were forced to leave and return to Utah. In the year I860, United States troops were sent to the old Lapwai Station, twelve miles from Lewiston, on the Clearwater River. The United States built a military post at this place and kept from one to two companies of troops stationed there. By this time a few white people had come into the country. The majority of them were men prospecting for gold up the Clearwater River and its tributaries. About seventy or eighty miles from Lew- iston, they discovered gold at three different places and named these mining camps Oro Fino, Elk City and Pierce City. The lat- ter was named for a Mr. Pierce. In 1861, prospecting was continued further back into the moun- tains, to the east and southeast. From the latter the discovery was made of what is commonly called the Salmon River mines. These mines were situated in a basin in the mountains from ten to twelve miles from Salmon River and about sixty miles south of 30 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO east from the mines discovered the year before, and about one hun- dred and ten miles southeast from Lewiston. This was a placer mining camp, very limited in extent, but easy worked and some of the claims were very rich. Often a man would wash out with a small rocker more than one hundred dollars per day. This camp was situated in a very high altitude where the snows fell very deep and lasted for a long time. Added to this, forty miles of moun- tain road had to be traveled before reaching the camp. It was a hard task for the prospectors to get there and very expensive to take in the necessary provisions and tools. But nothing will stop an old miner when he hears of a rich strike, so they came from all parts of the Pacific coast. Pack trains were rushed to Lewiston, as that town was at the head of navigataion on the Snake River where all supplies had to be taken, and from there transported to the mines on pack animals. Even then they could not be taken all the way only to the foot of the mountains, and from there carried in by the men on their backs or on small sleighs or tobog- gans. Supplies were often very scarce and the prices very high. At one time in 1861 and again in 1862, the price of flour was one dollar per pound. Some groceries, such as sugar, tea, coffee, bacon and tobacco, were much higher. In the Spring of 1862, two pack trails were opened into the Salmon River country, one going lengthwise across Camas Prairie to Salmon River and up the Salmon River about twelve miles, thence up and across the mountains fifteen or twenty miles to the mines. This was called the Slate Creek or Salmon route. The other route went from the east foot of Craig's Mountain, east across Camas Prairie, via where Grangeville and Mt. Idaho now stand, and commenced to ascend the mountain at Mt. Idaho, where the late Hon. L. P. Brown settled in 1862. This last named trail had forty miles of mountain country to pass over before reaching the mines, and many places were cut through thick timber and on steep hill-sides. This trail was constructed by Moses Milner and was called the Mose Milner trail. On each of these trails, toll was charged at the rate of one dollar for saddle or pack animals. Even with these high rates, I doubt if the owners made any money, as the opening of the trails cost an immense amount and the sea- son for heavy travel did not last long. The reader may wish to know how good these trails were. I will answer by saying I have packed over both of them, and each time I went over one, I wished I had taken the other. In the summer of 1862, there was great excitement in Florence about rich mines having been discovered at Buffalo Hump, a camp forty miles in a northeast direction and in rough mountains. By EARLY SETTLERS SI this time the claims in Florence had been pretty well worked out and there were several thousand people there, many of whom did not own any mining property and could not get work. They were ready to rush to any excitement, and especially to the rough moun- tains; for it is a fact that miners and newcomers alike seem more anxious to rush to some almost inaccessible camp than to a mining camp easy of access. This excitement furnished a good market for provisions which had been packed to Florence in large quantities. Many men left Florence for Buffalo Hump and each one had to have a small outfit of grub and tools, tobacco, etc. Merchandise went up to a high figure. Those who had no means to purchase an outfit, would get some friend who could not go to outfit them with the promise of a division of what they found. This is commonly called "grub stak- ing." It is understood that the prospector is to divide whatever he finds with the man who "staked" him, and do the necessary le- gal recording and work to hold the claim or claims. Florence was a lively place for a few days, while the men were outfitting to start to Buffalo Hump. All who could, got horses and packed them with the necessary supplies. Those who could not get horses or mules, would pack their outfits on their backs, many of them starting out with one hundred pounds on their backs. So they went in every way and the trip was indeed a hard one and poor fellows, after all their hard efforts, when they came to Buffalo Hump, they found only a few low grade quartz ledges instead of the rich placer mines they had expected. Of late years these quartz ledges have been made to pay, but at that time it was im- possible to take in machinery to operate them. Many of the men who went to Buffalo Hump were discouraged and some disgusted with seeking mining claims, so they soon scattered to different parts of the country. Some returned to their homes in Oregon and California, and others went to the mining camps on the Clearwater, Oro Fino and Pierce City, while others came back to Florence or the Salmon River mines. A townsite was now formally laid out near the center of the mines and called Florence. A little town was built up in a short time. As there was plenty of small timber near, the houses were built of logs and were substantial and comfortable. Numerous supply stores were opened, one of which was owned by Captain Relf Bledsoe and C. C. Higby. They carried a general assortment of supplies suitable for mines. Whiskey mills or saloons with gambling were very plentiful. Among the many saloons in this town was one run by the late Ben Anderson of Boise, who con- ducted his place in a very orderly manner. 8* THE HISTORY OF IDAHO During the rush to these mines in the Fall of 1861 and the Spring and Summer of 1862, Lewiston being situated at the head of steamboat navigation on the Snake River, and being the near- est point from which supplies could be purchased for the mining camps, had a splendid trade. It was soon quite a town, but owing to the scarcity of building material, the houses and stores were mostly large canvas tents boarded up on the sides from seven to ten feet high. This made them warm and comfortable. Hill Beachy, known and loved by all pioneers of those early days, ran a first-class hotel at Lewiston at this time, and his buildings were made of canvas and boards and were considered very comfortable. WARRENS' MINING CAMP. One of the parties that left Florence in the Summer of 1862 on a prospecting trip, was headed by a man named Warrens- These men discovered a camp which they called "Warrens' Diggin's," sit- uated in the mountains about thirty miles south of Salmon River in what is now Idaho County. This was a small camp with a limited number of fairly good placer mining claims, but it never created much excitement or caused a rush of people. Of late years, some good quartz claims have been discovered at this place and worked successfully. During the Buffalo Hump excitement, many of the men engaged in running pack trains between Lewiston and Florence bought cargoes of goods in Lewiston at greatly increased prices and hur- ried them into Florence on their pack animals, expecting to get big prices. But unfortunately, when they reached Florence, they learned that the Buffalo Hump placer mines were a complete fail- ure. The demand for goods in Florence was very limited and the prices offered by the merchants about the same as the packers had paid in Lewiston. This was very discouraging, so many of the packers went to other fields, myself among the number. By this time many of the placer claims in Florence were about worked out and the miners becoming anxious to prospect other fields, several parties were organized to go prospecting in a south- erly direction across the mountains. One of the first was headed by George Grimes with John Reynolds, D. H. Fogus and Moses Splawn and others. Another party was led by Jeff Standifer. Each party had to go around through the eastern part of Washington and Oregon to get into the southern part of Idaho to prospect. An- other party started with Relf Bledsoe for Captain, with Abner Cal- loway and others. Grimes' party was the first to reach what is now called Boise Basin, and stopped to prospect on a creek near where Pioneer City EARLY SETTLERS 83 was afterwards built. This was in August, 162. The creek was named for Mr. Grimes who led the party through the mountains and discovered the first gold in this rich camp. Mr. Grimes was soon afterward killed by an Indian while washing a pan of gold in this creek. Later Captain Bledsoe with his party arrived and pitched their tent at or near where the town of Placerville was soon after- wards built. It is said that Captain Bledsoe and his party washed out the first pans of dirt that were ever washed in this famous old mining district. A few days later, Captain Jeff Standifer and his party and some others arrived at and made their camp near where Idaho City now stands. Idaho City was formerly called Bannock. The name was afterwards changed by act of legislature. The news soon went over the country that rich placer mines had been found in the Boise Basin. Many others came in the Fall and the work of prospecting, locating claims and building cabins was carried on at a lively rate. Many of the miners whip-sawed lumber to build rockers and sluice boxes to wash out the dirt and gravel from the gold. Merchants came with pack trains loaded with pro- visions, mining tools, clothing, etc. Sawmills were soon brought in and set up. Timber was near suitable for making lumber, and soon these mills were running day and night. The lumber was taken from the mills as fast as it was cut and sawed, at prices from one to two hundred dollars per thousand feet. Every foot of lumber cut through the night was taken away by sunrise in the morning, and all cut through the day was immediately built into some kind of a house or sluice boxes. The towns of Centerville, Placerville, Idaho City and Pioneer were built up as if by magic. The houses were small and built of rough lumber, just as it came from the sawmill. Merchants usually built underground cellars at the rear end of their buildings, where they kept large quanities of goods. These cellars were built to protect the goods from fire. In March, 1863, the great rush from California and Oregon to these mining camps began. The road between Umatilla, the steam- boat landing, and the Boise Basin, was lined with people, some on horseback, with a few pack animals, but the majority were on foot. Many pack trains were on the road loaded with merchandise of all kinds. We are now back to the time, March 3rd, 1863, when Congress passed the Organic Act creating and organizing the Territory of Idaho. We will soon take up the early Territorial government of Idaho. His-3 CHAPTER VIII. ROBBERY OF MR. BERRY, A PACKER, ON THE TRAIL FROM FLORENCE IN IDAHO COUNTY, BY ENGLISH, SCOTT AND PEEBLES, IN 1862. As we had left the Lewiston country some two months before this robbery occurred, we are not able to give all the particulars, but give it as nearly as we can remember, as we got it from one who was at Lewiston at that time. Some time in October, 1862, in what is now Idaho County (then in Washington Territory) a Mr. Berry, then a packer operating a pack train of mules between Lewiston and Florence, a mining camp in Idaho County, delivered his cargo of freight and collected his freight money, amounting to somewhere about two thousand dollars. He started from the Florence mining camp with his train of mules to go to Lewiston, a distance of about one hundred and ten miles. After getting over and out of the mountains on to what is known as Big Camas Prairie, he left his train with his men to drive them on to Lewiston, and he, on his saddle mule, with his money, struck out alone to go ahead to Lewiston to look out for and engage more freight to pack by the time his train should arrive. While crossing this prairie, which is some twenty miles across, he was stopped and held up by three notorious highwaymen. Their names were Dave English, Nelson Scott and William Peebles. They took all of his money. It is said that Scott insisted upon killing Mr. Berry, but the others would not agree to it, so Mr. Berry was allowed to re- sume his journey. Arriving at Lewiston, Mr. Berry told what had happened to him and the report, with a description of the men, was sent to Walla Walla next day by stage (a distance of 85 miles) to the officers there. These highwaymen did not show up in Lewiston, but made their way to Walla Walla within a few days after they had com- mitted the robbery, and were arrested by officers there and taken back to Lewiston, where they were identified by Mr. Berry, the man whom they had robbed. At that time, in fact all of what is now Idaho, belonged to Washington Territory. The country was new and judicial courts did not operate much in that part of the country, and there does not appear to have been any safe place in which to keep these desperadoes to wait a long time for a court to try them. At their preliminary examination, the evidence of their guilt of highway robbery was conclusive. Mr. Berry identified them as the ROBBERY OF MR. BERRY 35 men that robbed him. These three men had the reputation of hav- ing committed other robberies. It was thought best to put them where they could commit no more. Swift punishment is sometimes necessary to evil doers. That appears to have been the course pur- sued in this case. These three men were hanged soon after their guilt was proven, which ended their earthly career. CHAPTER IX. THE STORY OF MOSES SPLAWN's DISCOVERY OF THE BOISE BASIN GOLD MINES IN 1862. The following is the story of the discovery of the Boise Basin gold mines as told by Mr. Splawn himelf : "While mining in Elk City, Idaho, in the Summer of 1861, there often came to our camp a Bannock Indian who would watch us clean up the sluices and gather the gold after the day's work was done. The latter part of the Summer, I left Elk City and went to a new discovery near Salmon River. "I was among the first arrivals in the camp of Florence and here I again met this Indian, who still showed his interest in the yellow metal that was being taken out of the ground. When the early snows had come and further mining was difficult, I saddled and packed my horses and started for Walla Walla, where I intended to pass the Winter. While camped at the mouth of Slate Creek, on Salmon River, I again met the Bannock Indian. We had met so many times in the past few months, we had become quite friendly. While we talked and smoked around the camp fire that night, he told me of a basin in the mountains far to the south, where he had, when a boy, picked up chunks of yellow metal such as he had seen me work out of the gravel. His earnest look and pains-taking de- scription made me believe the story, and I felt, if I ever came near, I would recognize the mountains that surrounded the rich basin. In the following Spring, 1862, I determined to find, if possible, the country described by my Indian friend. It was no easy matter, as the Indians were well known to be hostile and it was necessary for a reasonable number of men to travel together to insure any degree of safety. "On reaching Auburn, we found Captain Tom Turner with fifty men from the Willamette Valley, going to Catherine Creek above the Owyhee in search of the Blue Bucket 'diggin's/ a lost mine sup- posed to have been seen by a company of emigrants in 1845. The name was derived from the fact that the emigrants claimed that they could have picked up a blue bucket full of the yellow metal. (This blue bucket was a large kind of bucket used in those days.) We agreed to join Captain Turner's company provided if he failed to find the lost mine, he would then join us and go on the north side of Snake River in search of this rich basin. This agreement was accepted by both parties, and we started on our journey. DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN $7 "Arriving at the country where the lost mine was supposed to be, diligent search was made, but it was of no avail. But here we found what was known later as the Silver City 'diggings.' The men who found the gold here were Jordan, Jack Reynolds and some others of Turner's party. "All this time it seemed to me that something kept telling me that I could look into the distance and see the mountains for which I was searching. I asked Turner at this place to fulfill his part of the agreement, to cross the Snake River to the north side. I made a speech to the company, reminding them of their agreement and telling them what I believed we would find. My position was then voted upon. Several of Turner's men voted to go with us. Turner then said: 'If you will go with me to the next creek emptying into Snake River above here, and we fail to find what we are searching for, I then agree to go with you on the north side of Snake River.' Agreeing to this, we went with him to the creek named. The next morning, hearing Turner giving orders to move on farther up the river, I called his attention to our agreement. He made no reply. I then made another speech and called for a vote. Only seven men answered. With these seven men I turned back and below the Owyhee River we met George Grimes with seven men, hurrying on to overtake and join Captain Turner's company. We explained our experience with him and dread of his total failure, and why we l wanted to go north of Snake River and near the Payette. Mr. Grimes and his party turned back with us, making sixteen in our company. That night we camped on Snake River just above where old Fort Boise stood on the opposite side. We made up our minds to cross here. We could see cottonwood trees along the banks of the Boise River opposite us, and we determined to build a raft with our tools, cross Snake River and build a boat. "We crossed the river safely on our raft, but landed on a bar just below the mouth of Boise River. We tied the raft and waded a slough before reaching the main shore, and we here discovered that all our guns were wet, excepting mine. To add to our dismay, we saw an Indian boy riding over a hill not far distant. This brought the question to our minds, what might be behind us ? We were with- out ammunition save that in my musket, and knowing that to guard the men who were to build the boat we must have ammunition, we resolved to return to camp. Going back to the raft, we shoved it out into the stream. We landed on an island, tied our raft to a pole we stuck into the ground for that purpose, and made camp. We cooked our supper and went to sleep, leaving one man on guard. "After breakfast next morning, we went out to the point where we had left our raft. It was gone and there were five of us on the 38 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO island and one could not swim. There were only a few sticks on the island, so we were only able to construct a small raft. It was so very small that when we put our outfit on it, and Silvi, the man who could not swim, got on top of the raft, it sunk so low that, the water came up to his knees. There was another island just below us, and we had to float down to the lower end of it before we could commence swimming to the opposite shore. Swimming and shoving the raft, we passed down to the lower end of the island without ex- periencing extreme cold, and still the broad, cold, silent Snake River lay between us and the shore we must reach. The cold water began to have an effect on us, and soon we became chill and numb. Two Portuguese, who were with us, grew tired of helping push the raft, and swam to the shore. Grimes soon followed but returned to help me push the raft with Silvi on it. We took turns pushing the raft. While one swam and pushed the raft, the other would rest, beat his breast and throw his arms to keep up the circulation, tn this way we reached the shore, more dead than alive. Seeing an alkali lake near, we ran and jumped into it. Fortunately, this was the month of July, so the waters of the lake were warm. The Portuguese who had deserted us in the river, now came to us and we returned to camp. "When we were rested, a debate arose. Part of the men wanted to continue the trip and others wanted to return to their homes. D. H Fogus and I held out to continue and cross the river, but all the others positively refused to attempt crossing the river again. I stated that I had every reason to believe we could go back to Owyhee and find timber to make a boat so we could cross safely. It was finally decided that Fogus and I should return to Owyhee and see if we could find suitable timber for a boat. If we could, they would help us build the boat and we would all cross the river. "We found the timber and all returned to Owyhee excepting John Casner, Silvi, Martin and one other, who returned to Walla Walla. We camped on the Owyhee about five miles above the mouth. We were twenty-one days building the boat. We then ran it down to the Snake River and crossed just below the mouth of the Owyhee. We led one horse beside the boat, the others swimming loose. "Grimes, the two Portuguese and myself were the last to cross. Having the riding saddles, our load was very heavy, water was con- stantly coming in and we had to bail continually with a bucket. When about twenty feet from the shore the boat went down. The men who had crossed before, came to our rescue and we saved every- thing on board. I had all along stated that I wanted to go to the Payette River and follow it up, but on leaving here, our course was up the right bank of Boise river in quest of a ford. Coming to the DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 39 first canyon, we saw granite hills. Here we constructed a raft and crossed to the north bank. I was asked if we should go towards Payette. I said 'No, for in this granite formation, we may find what we are looking for.' So we went up to the hills and camped. "Here something occurred that made me uneasy. Grimes and Westernfelter were in advance of us and I heard the report of a gun. When they returned, I asked if they had shot anything. They said no, but I had my doubts and made up my mind to be on my guard. We hobbled and staked our horses, dug holes in the ground for a defense and put out a double guard that night, for I believed the_men had shot or fired at an Indian while ahead of us. At day- light we were up and brought in our horses and tied them good and fast in the camp. I then told the party I would go to a butte near by and take a view of the country, and if they saw me start to run towards the camp, to get out their fire arms and make ready for battle, as I would not run unless I saw danger. While standing on the hill, I saw a party of Indians, stripped naked, all mounted and riding at full speed up the creek towards our camp. I ran for the camp, barely getting there before the Indians. Our men were all in line to do battle. With both arms outstretched, I cried, 'Don't shoot until I tell you.' On came the Indians not twenty yards away. Un- moved I stood there, and our men waiting, with guns drawn, for the word. Our nerves were well tested, for the Indians did not halt until within twenty feet of us. Had we been less firm, there would have been one more fearful tragedy enacted on the frontier. After stand- ing still and watching us a moment, one of the Indians called out in good English, 'Where are you going?' This was Bannock Louie. I replied that we were going to the mountains to find gold. He asked if we did not think he spoke good English, to which we rep lied, we did. We invited them to have breakfast with us and they very readily accepted the invitation. "The Indian who spoke English told us that the trail we were fol- lowing would lead us. over the mountains to a large basin. Those words sank deep in my heart, for I had been thinking how much these mountains and surroundings tallied with the description given me by my Bannock friend. He also told us that in this basin there were over one hundred warriors of the worst type, and if we were not on the lookout, we would lose our scalps. "After breakfast we saddled and packed our horses and moved on to the top of the mountain, where we camped for noon. When the time came to start out after dinner, Grimes and I differed as to the route we should take. He wanted to follow the ridge leading to Payette, which I had all along spoken about, but I had now discov- ered that in this basin to the right of us was the spot described to 40 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO me by the Indian on Salmon River. Grimes and I differing we called for a vote. All the men but one voted with Grimes, so we followed him. We had not gone far, however, when Westernfelter, who had been behind, overtook us and riding up to Grimes, asked where we were going. After Grimes told him, he said: 'I understood Splawn wanted to go down into the basin and we are following him now and not you, and we will follow him, and I want you to remember he is the one to say where we are to go/ Some sharp words passed be- tween them and both dismounted and leveled their guns, the barrels coming in contact. I jumped off my horse and got between them and succeeded in making peace. Both of them were brave men and we did not have any men to spare. Grimes was asked why he did not want to go down into the basin when Splawn said it looked just like the place described by the Indian. He answerd, 'I am afraid of the Indians.' Westernfelter said, 'If we are afraid of the Indians, we should not have come here at all and we had better return home/ This remark of fear from Grimes struck me as strange, for he was well known to be the bravest of the brave. I spoke to Westernfelter saying we had put the question of our route to a vote and Grimes had won, so I would follow him. After traveling for a short dis- tance, Grimes stopped and said: 'I will get behind and bother no more/ Then I turned back on the trail, the pack horses driven be- hind me, and went down into the basin and camped. I walked on to look out our future trail and see if there were any signs of In- dians, for I remembered the words of caution given us that morning. I soon saw freshly blazed trees and returned to camp to get my horse, for I was on foot. Joe Branstetter went back with me. Rid- ing to the top of a little hill, we saw Indian lodges. We turned back and concluded to go around the lodges, but seeing an Indian dog, we thought the Indians were in their lodges ready to shoot. We made up our minds to have it out and rode full speed toward the lodges, but we did not find any Indians. The lodges, however, were well filled with salmon, both fresh and dried. Going on further up the creek, it occurred to me that the squaws had probably seen us and had gone to tell the bucks. We went back to the lodges and I took all the Salmon I could carry, and we returned to camp. We had only been there a few minutes, when looking back from whence we came, we saw about fifty warriors riding at full speed towards our camp. Some of our party were in favor of giving them blankets and so try to make friends with them, but I had been raised in an Indian country and knew too much of their na- ture to even think of such a thing. I said: 'Get your guns, and remember to be firm and no gifts/ Insisting upon this display of bravery, I took up my gun and went forward to meet the Indians, DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 41 as I had no intention of allowing them to run into camp. I waved my hand at them, thinking they would stop, but on they came. I leveled the gun on them and they halted. Branstetter and Grimes were soon by my side. Grimes could talk good Chinook jargon and I asked him to tell them that if they wanted to come into camp, they must lay down their arms, take off their blankets and leave them where they were, and not over ten at a time come into camp. This they agreed to do. The two chiefs, each wearing a plug hat and cutaway coat (doubtless the spoils from some massacre of de- fenseless emigrants) came first, and Grimes stepping some little distance in front of us, smoked the pipe of peace with them while we stood guns in hand. "The parley was soon over and we packed up, prepared to move again. Here another disagreement arose as to which way we should go, some wanting to return the way we came, and others to go on. The majority was for going on. I again led the way, the pack horses driven after me. We had gone only a short distance when I heard the clattering of horses feet just over a small hill to our right. I expected trouble when we came to the crossing of the creek a short distance above. At this place Branstetter rode up be- side me and said: 'We see Indians on our right, riding at full speed, and they may intend cutting us off somewhere.' I said, 'We are in for it, and the only way to act is with total indifference. Be on the alert; ride on, and if we have to, we will fight.' A little further on, near the crossing of the trail stood an Indian. I asked him how far it was to the stream. He pointed in that direction, knowing I had been there before, for our horses' tracks could be plainly seen on the same trail an hour before. "At the crossing there were some more Indians, but we paid no attention to them. We continued on our jsvay and camped on this creek at the place where the town of Centerville now stands. And it was at this place Fogus put his shovel in the dirt and gravel and from that shovelful worked out about fifteen cents worth of gold. I then felt we had found the basin of my dreams, so accurately described by my Indian friend. "His story was true and this basin has proven a benefit to man- kind and a direct cause of the birth of a new and great State, and this story should have its place in its history. "We moved on to where Pioneer now stands, stopped at this camp two days, then over Pilot Knob and camped on the;creek at noon. Mounting a horse, I rode up to the head of the creek, where I climbed a tall fir tree and cut a Catholic cross in the top of it. From this tree I could see a cut-off which we afterwards used in our retreat. On coming down from the tree to where my horse 4& THE HISTORY OF IDAHO stood, I saw an Indian and bear tracks. I mounted my horse quickly and rode down the hill and over the underbrush to the creek. In passing through this fearful entanglement, my trousers were torn off, my shirt in shreds, my limbs and body cut in many places. I arrived in camp after dark, bruised and sore. The men put plas- ters on my back and gathered pitch from the firs and put on the cuts on my body. " "The next day the men were busy sinking prospect holes. Provi- sions were getting low about this time. About three o'clock in the afternoon, while the Portuguese were making me a pair of pants out of seamless sacks while I was asleep, Grimes came into camp and wakened me, saying, 'There is trouble here. These Portu- guese say the Indians have been shooting at them while they were sinking prospect holes.' I got up and looked around and seeing nothing, again laid down as I was still sick and sore from my wounds received the day before. I fell asleep but was soon awak- ened by the sound of voices and firearms. I got up and saw George Grimes with his shotgun in his hands close by. Taking up my gun I went to him and together we made a charge up the hill in the direction of the shots. When we reached the top, it seemed as if twenty guns were fired in our faces. Grimes fell just as we reached the top. The last and only words he said were, 'Mose, don't let them scalp me/ Thus perished a brave and honorable man at a time when he stood ready to reap his reward. "I called for the rest of the men to come to the top of the hill. We left a guard there and carried Grimes to a prospect hole and buried him, amid deep silence. He was our comrade and we had endured hardships and dangers together and we knew not whose turn would come next. "We then commenced our retreat. It was almost dark and we had nothing to eat. I decided to take the route I had seen from the tree the day before. Riding in the lead for about a mile, and when near Pilot Knob, looking down on the creek I saw a small camp fire. When the men came up, I pointed it out to them and told them it was necessary for us to know if this was a band of warriors. I said, 'You wait here and I will go down on foot and see if I can learn for certain/ I left my rifle and took only my pistol, and told them that if they heard firing and I did not return within a reasonable time, for them to go on as I would have been killed, but that if I was not hurt, I would return within a short time. "I took down a ravine, crawling within a few yards of the creek, but no signs of life did I see. I became impatient and made up my mind to end this anxiety. I raised up and walked rapidly DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 43 to the bank of the creek and to my surprise and joy, found only fox fire, the first I had ever seen in the mountains. I hurried back to where the men were waiting, and we rode 09 to where Center- ville now stands and tied our horses until morniig. "We then climbed a steep hill where our horses had been grazing a few days before and had made tracks all over the hillside. This put the Indians off our trail, and they failed to find the route we had taken. "Arriving at the top of this hill, I climbed a peak near by and below I could see the Indans riding in a circle, their faint war whoops reaching my ears from the valley we had just left. We went on towards Boise River, taking the same route we had in going in. "In a little valley on the way down, we saw some squaws dig- ging Camas. Looking a little further on, some of the men pointed out a wonderful sight. A thousand Indians, they said, on whit* horses, were ready to bar our way. I stood dazed for a few mo- ments, then it occurred to me that there could be no such number of white horses, and taking a good look, saw that the seeming In- dians and white horses were only white rocks. Turning around to speak to the men, none of them were in sight. I hurried after them and asked them where they were going. They answered that they were going to avoid those Indians. I told them there were no Indians only squaws, and succeeded in persuading them to turn back. "We rode down the valley, passing the squaws, and camped on Boise River, still without anything to eat. Early the next morning we were on our way and went on down the river until we came to the place where we had crossed on our way to the basin. Looking back we saw a great dust. Through our field glass it seemed to be a string of Indians about two miles long, and there was also a cloud of dust on the opposite side of the river, going down. We thought a band of Indians must be going to attack Auburn. Seeing dust in front of us and behind us, we concluded to get into a bunch of tim- ber nearby on Snake River and fight it out until night. While re- flecting on the situation, I was startled by the report of a gun behind me. Looking backward, I saw Joe Branstetter who called out that he had killed a rattlesnake. The report of the gun brought out from the opposite shore several white men, who were camped behind some timber. Some of them came down to the river bank and we learned from them that the dust was caused by emigrant t trains, Tim Goodell, captain of the train. We constructed a raft and crossed over to where the emigrants were camped. We had been without food for two days. Captain Turner came to us and 44 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO told us the people of the emigrant train thought we were allies of the Indians and would not permit us to come into their camp or give us anything to eat. The next morning they relented and let us go into the camp and gave us something to eat. "From this place we went to Walla Walla. Fifty men joined us at Walla Walla and we returned to the Basin, located mining claims, held and worked them, having good success. "It was in August, 1862, when we discovered Boise Basin." (Signed) "MOSES SPLAWN." CHAPTER X. ORGANIZATION OF TERRITORY OF IDAHO APPOINTMENT OF FEDERAL OFFICERS FIRST ELECTION FOR MEMBERS OF THE LEGIS- LATURE AND DELEGATES TO CONGRESS. The Organic Act passed by Congress and approved by the Pres- ident March 3, 1863, creating and organizing a territorial govern- ment for the people residing within and those who might come thereafter, in certain limits and boundary lines of territorial lands, gave to that territory the name of Idaho. Various reasons are given for the origin of the name Idaho. By some it is claimed that it is an Indian name. One story is that some miners had camped within sight of what is now Mount Idaho. In the morning they were awakened by the Indians calling "I-da-ho" and pointing to the rising sun just coming over the mountain, hence the term, "The Rising Sun." Another story is that the name was taken from a steamboat built by the late Col. J. S. Ruckles to run on the Colum- bia River in early days. This boat was named The Idaho. Mr. Goulder, one of the oldest living pioneers in Idaho, saw this steam- er on the Columbia in I860 and noticing the name asked the mean- ing and was informed that it was an Indian word, "E-dah-hoe," and stood for "Gem of the Mountains." Mr. Frederick Campbell, one of the pioneers of the Pike's Peak excitement, says the word Idaho is an Arapahoe Indian word and that in Colorado a spring was named Idaho before the word was known in the Northwest, and that it was even suggested for the name of Colorado. Mr. Campbell's theory is probably correct, as neither the Nez Perce nor any other Northwestern dialect seems to include the word. The bill as it passed the House of Representatives named the territory Montana. The Senate amended the bill by striking out the name "Montana" and inserting "Idaho." The Senate also amended the section defining the boundary lines of the territory so as to make the area very much larger than the House bill provided for. The change of the name was made on motion of Senator Wil- son of Massachusetts, who claimed that the "word" Montana had no meaning. Senator Hardin of Oregon, said: "The name Idaho is much preferable to Montana. Montana, to my mind, signifies noth- ing at all. Idaho in English signifies 'The Gem of the Mountains.' This is a mountainous country and the name Idaho is well under- stood in signification and orthography in all that country and I prefer it to the present name." The amendment was agreed to. 46 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO The bill, as amended, was returned to the House of Representa- tives, and on motion of Mr. Sargent of California, the House con- curred in both of the Senate's amendments. The act of Congress dividing Washington Territory and creating Idaho Territory, described the boundaries of Idaho as follows: "Beginning at a point in the middle of the channel of the Snake River where the northern boundary of Oregon intersects the same, then follow down the said channel of Snake River to a point oppo- site the mouth of the Kooskooskia or Clear Water River; thence due north to the forty-ninth parallel of latitude; thence east along said parallel to the twenty-seventh degree of longitude west of Washington; thence south along said degree of longitude to the northern boundary of Colorado Territory; thence west along said boundary to the thirty-third degree of longitude west of Washing- ton; thence north along said degree to the forty-second parallel of latitude; thence west along said parallel to the eastern boun- dary of the State of Oregon; thence along said boundary to the place of beginning." These boundary lines not only included all of the southern and eastern portion of the Territory of Washington, but went a way over on the east side of the Rocky Mountain range and took in a large strip of the Louisiana Purchase, including within the boun- dary lines of Idaho Territory more than three hundred thousand square miles. On March 17th, 1864, Congress passed an act cre- ating the Territory of Montana. The most of the territory that was put into Montana was taken from the northeastern portion of Idaho. Later, on June 28, 1868, the Territory of Wyoming was created by act of Congress and a large piece of the southeastern portion of Idaho was included within the boundary lines of Wyom- ing Territory. This last named act of Congress reduced Idaho to its present area of about 85,000 square miles. ORGANIZATION. The organic act for the Territory of Idaho provided that the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, should appoint for the Territory a Governor, a Secretary, a Chief Justice and two Associate Justices, a United States Attorney and a United States Marshal. The act also provided that the Governor should appoint census takers to take the census of the Territory, and after the report of the census taker was received, he should lay out the territory in council and representative districts, and call an elec- tion for a member of Congress and members of the legislature. The legislative council was limited to seven members the first ses- sion, and the number of representatives to thirteen, with power to ORGANIZATION OF IDAHO 47 increase the number according to the increase in population, not, however, to exceed thirteen councilmen and twenty-six representa- tives. The Governor should name the time and place for holding the election, appoint the judges of election, canvass the vote and declare who was elected; also name the time and place for holding the first session of the legislature, which session should not exceed sixty days and subsequent sessions only forty days. The officers arrived some time after their appointment. For some cause unknown to us, the Governor saw fit to make his head- quarters at Lewiston certainly not on account of the population being greater in that part of the State, for there were more people in fifteen miles square in the Boise Basin than there were in all the balance of the Territory at that time. Lewiston was, however, the oldest town and had the advantage of being near the Governor's former home, so he very naturally exercised his right and privi- lege to locatae in the place that suited him best. If he had, how- ever, considered the best interests of the people whom he was sup- posed to serve, he would hardly have located the temporary capital away up in the northern part of the Territory, just across the boun-^ dary line between Washington and Idaho. The Organic Act also provided that the Governor should com- mission such Territorial officers in addition to those named and appointed by the President, as should be appointed to office under the laws of the Territory, without waiting for a session of the legislature to determine what offices were elective and what ap- pointed. On the 23rd of July, he appointed John M. Bacon Aud- itor and Comptroller, and on the 7th of September, he appointed D. S. Kenyon Treasurer of the Territory. The Governor issued his proclamation dated Lewiston, Idaho Territory, September 22nd, 1863, calling for a general election to be held on the 31st day of October, 1863, for a delegate to Con- gress and members ^f the legislature, he having defined the coun- cil and representative v districts as first, second and third districts. We have been unable to procure a copy of this order, but judging from the members elected, we think the first district embraced all of Idaho north of the Salmon River and west of the Rocky Moun- tains; the second district, all of the district south of the Salmon River, and the third, all of Idaho east of the Rocky Mountains. The act further states that at the first session of the legislature or as soon thereafter as they may deem expedient, the Governor and the legislative assembly shall proceed to locate and establish the seat of government for said territory at such place as they deem eligible. It seems from reading this act of Congress, that the seat of government for Idaho was neither located temporarily or 48 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO otherwise, but simply left to the discretion of the Governor to name the place for holding the first session of the legislature. It did not even state that the Governor's and Secretary's offices should be at the place named by the Governor for the holding of the first session of the legislature. (See Organic Act published in the First Ses- sion Laws of Idaho, pages 27 to 36, inclusive.) From a careful examination of this act, we must conclude that all this talk in respect to the capital being temporarily located at Lewiston by this act was a mistake. The selection of the temporary capital rested with the Governor until such time as the legislature with his approval passed a law locating it at some different place. APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS. The President appointed the following officers: W. H. Wallace, Governor, March 10, 1863. W. B. Daniels, Secretary, March 10, 1863. Sidney Edgerton, Chief Justice, March 10, 1863. Alec C. Smith, Associate Justice, March 10, 1863. Samuel C. Parks, Associate Justice, March 10, 1863. D. S. Payne, U. S. Marshal, March 13, 1863. G. C. Hough, U. S. Attorney, February 29, 1864. CHAPTER XI. INDIAN TROUBLES IN SOUTHERN IDAHO IN THE EARLY SIXTIES. Prior to the coming in of white men in 1862, there were several different tribes of Indians that roamed at their will and pleasure over the southern and southeastern portion of what is now Idaho. Up to that time, they had full possession of the country, and no white person had attempted to settle upon or lay claim to any por- tion of land in Southern Idaho, except a few emigrants who passed across this country on the road from the States east of the Mis- souri River to Oregon or Washington Territory. These Indian tribes consisted of what was called the Snakes, the Weisers, the Malheurs, the Bruneaus, the Shoshones, and the Bannocks. They were all more or less hostile to the whites and often levied tribute on the poor white traveling emigrants by first begging all they could in day time, under the pretense of being friendly and "good Indians," and at night, stealing and driving away most of their stock, and in a few instances, murdering all of the people who were traveling in small trains. None of them^up to this time had ever felt the power of our Uncle Sam's army^or tlie'force or a vmnnte^'cwiipany of miners. They seemed to think the country belonged to them and that they would make it so unsafe for the life and property of any and all whites who came into this part of the country, that they would be glad to leave soon if left alive. They commenced by shooting from ambush and killing the leader of the first party of white men who went into and discovered gold in the Boise Basin in the summer of 1862, a Mr. George Grimes, a few days after their arrival, while he was at his work prospecting for gold on what is now called Grimes' Creek, near Pioneer City in Boise Basin, Boise County. This cowardly, murderous and thieving warfare was carried on against the miners who were trying to prospect, and also against the packers who were trying to pack supplies in for the miners, and against all who attempted to travel on the roads or trails, until about the first of March, 1863, when things got to such a state that men could neither travel nor work with any degree of safety, , except several were together and well armed and some of them constantly on the watch for Indians. By this time several hundred white men had come into this mining district. Their supplies, tools, etc., were running short. Packers of supplies had suffered the loss of so many animals at the hands of the Indians, they hesitated to His 4 60 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO contract to pack more supplies in, although big prices were of- fered. Something had to be done, although the snow was then two feet deep in the mining district; but in the valleys where the trou- bles were, there was no snow. The miners and the merchants rose to the occasion, miners, saloon-keepers and some sporting men agreeing to do the fighting. I give this history as it was given to me by Daniel Ritchard who was with the company, a man whom I believe to be perfectly truth- ful, brave, and cool-headed. "A company was soon raised, consisting of about eighty men, the volunteers furnishing their own horses and arms and the merchants providing provisions, ammunition and other necessaries. Jeff Stan- difer was elected Captain and Greenwood, First Lieutenant. We left Idaho City about March 1st, 1863, came down Moore's Creek to the Warm Springs the first night. The next day we went east to Indian Creek and camped at what is now called Mayfield, or the Obe Corder ranch. In the morning, the night guard who herded the horses drove them in early and reported that they had seen a bunch of Indians at a point of rocks not far away. A majority of the company immediately saddled our horses as rapidly as possible and started for the rocky mount where the guard had seen the Indians. The Indians saw us and galloped away on their horses before we were near enough to open fire on them. We chased them about ten miles and captured one, whose horse had given out. The others had scattered in all directions in the rough, hilly and rocky country, so we gave up the chase and returned to our camp for breakfast. "After a hasty breakfast, Captain Standifer ordered me (Ritch- ard) to take sixteen men and go east and try and cut the Indians off from getting to the mountainous country on the north. Captain Standifer and the remainder of the company would follow in the direction the Indians seemed to have taken when we abandoned the chase. We traveled all that day and until one o'clock next morning. At that time we heard what seemed to be a squaw moan- ing. We supposed it to be the wife of the buck who had been captured in the morning by the volunteers. Feeling satisfied that the Indian camp was near, we quietly withdrew for about a half mile until daylight. We would then be able to determine their lo- cation and the nature of the surrounding country. At daylight we discovered two Indians on horseback. We advanced on their camp, shot and killed one of them at the first fire. The fight then commenced in earnest, but did not last long. The men were all good marksmen and we soon dispatched all of the bucks, about INDIAN TROUBLES 51 eighteen in number, took the squaws prisoners and went back a few miles south and met Captain Standifer. Other scouts sent out by the Captain came in soon and reported Indians in the hills to the northwest. We started that night and found the Indians fortified in a large cleft of rocks with an open place built up with rocks and good rifle pits arranged so they were secure from shots that might be fired at them. At the same time, they might fire on any person who came within range of their rifle pits. We arrived near their fortifications just before daylight and in a short time a few of them came out and we attacked and killed several before they could get into their fort. We then surrounded them and kept a guard around for three days and nights. One of our men, John Dobson, was severely wounded, having been hit in the jaw by one of their bullets. He recovered after a long time. We talked with the Indians and told them if they would come out and give up the man or men who had killed George Grimes in the Boise Basin several months before, we would allow the others to go. This they refused to do. We then cut a large number of wil- lows, intending to tie them in large bundles for breastworks and roll them in front of us to their fort and storm it. After consulta- tion, this plan was dropped and it was decided it should be one man for each of the Indian port-holes or rifle pits. The men should crawl up before day, while it was yet dark, close to each rifle pit and as soon as those on guard in these rifle pits showed themselves, they were to shoot them and this would most likely cause the other Indians to stampede. This scheme worked well. The pit guards rose early, and, Indian like, had to take a look out. Each one of them was shot down the moment he showed himself by the volun- teers who had crawled up close and were waiting and watching for them. This created such confusion among the Indians that it did not take long for them to vacate their fort. Captain Standifer had all of his men under arms at that time and nearby, so they dis- patched the Indians about as fast as they came out. So far as known only one buck Indian escaped. About sixty were killed in this fight. We also captured about eighty head of horses here. "We then made a litter to carry our wounded man, John Dobson, fastening it between two gentle mules and putting on plenty of blankets to make it as comfortable as possible. With a man to lead each mule, we started back to the Warm Springs ranch. Arriving there the second day, we found all of the ranch stock had been stolen by the Indians. This place was then kept by a man called 'Beaver Dick/ We camped here for a few days and sent a detach- ment of men to Idaho City to take our wounded man and to get more supplies and more men. After a few days our men returned 52 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO with more supplies and a few recruits. We then took the trail of the Indians who had taken the stock from Warm Springs ranch and followed their trail across Snake River. Here the company divided, one part going up Snake River, and the remainder up Mal- heur River in Oregon, where they lost the trail, the Indians having scattered in different directions. "Captain Standifer sent me back with five men to scout west in what is known as the Mormon Basin country. After two days' scouting, we struck an Indian trail. After following it a short dis- tance, we looked down a canyon and saw five Indians riding up. We concealed ourselves and when near enough, fired at them. They took to the brush. We captured one mule they left. We did rot try to follow them, not knowing how many we might meet. We then returned to Captain Standifer's camp on Malheur River. "The company started up Malheur River, and we soon came to a fresh Indian trail and further on, we found where Indians had recently camped. We also found four Indian bows and quivers of arrows, four spears, ropes, and we concluded they had belonged to the four Indians we had shot a few days before while out scouting and that they had died from their wounds. We continued to follow their trail for two days and the greater part of two nights. Finally we camped and Captain Standifer and myself went on top of a high mountain after night to watch for light or smoke from Indian fires. While on this mountain, we saw lights from the Indian fires a long way off on the opposite side of the creek. We located their position as nearly as possible and the following night, the whole command moved up and surrounded them before daylight at their camp near Goose Creek. Captain Standifer placed all of his men, with the exception of eighteen, on either side of the camp, leaving an opening in front. The eighteen men were placed on the upper side and at the signal given by the Captain, they charged on the Indian camp with whoops and yells and shots. This caused the Indians to stampede and they were soon dispatched by the other volunteers. Fourteen Indians were killed. The squaws and children were left unharmed and allowed to go free, excepting one small boy and a little Indian girl, whom we took to Idaho City with us. It seems that another party of Indians had passed this camp of Indians before we reached them and had driven off all the horses they had. "We were now pretty well tired out, and very gaunt, having lived principally on horse meat for the last six days, so it was de- cided that as we could not overtake the band of Indians who had stolen the horses and as we were about out of supplies and our horses were very much jaded, we would go back to Idaho City. INDIAN TROUBLES 53 "The only man hurt in this last fight was Matt Bledsoe, who re- ceived a glancing shot across the forehead, knocking him down, but he was soon over it as the bullet only cut the skin. "On the way back, when we reached Snake River, we all went out to try and kill some game. The only thing we got was some beaver. This we ate with relish for it was a great improvement on the horse meat we had been using for the last ten days. "At Warm Springs we disbanded. The Indian boy and girl were taken to Idaho City and the boy given to John Kelley, the cele- brated violinist, who taught the boy many tricks and exhibited him in many parts of the world. The girl was given to a lady in the Basin/' Captain Standifer and his volunteers did succeed in capturing and returning to their proper owners, several head of horses. All things fairly considered in connection with this campaign against these thieving and murderous Indians, it was a complete success, save and except that one brave young man named John Dobbins, was shot by the Indians and severely wounded. He lived about one year afterwards, when he died from the effects of the wound he received. The chastening given these Indians by Captain Standifer and his brave followers had a salutary effect upon them, at least for several months, for it was some time before they ventured on any more of their raids. When we take into consideration that Captain Standifer and his brave followers left the rich placer gold mines in Boise Basin, where the daily wages of men to work in the mines was eight dollars, and many that had claims of their own were making one hundred dollars or more per day, to shoulder their guns and go on a campaign of this kind, poorly equipped, hard worked, poorly fed, in stormy, bad weather for two months, without any hope of fee or reward other than to bring peace and security to life and property, we must say we think this was pure and unadul- terated patriotism, backed up with indomitable courage. And cer- tainly all of us who are still left to enjoy our peaceful homes in this now reclaimed and happy land, owe a debt of gratitude to Captain J. J. (Jeff) Standifer and his brave followers who did so much towards bringing about security for life and property at a time when it was so badly needed; at a time when it required such a great self-sacrifice to bring it about. Captain Standifer and most of his brave followers have passed from this earthly career. Let us remember their good works here with a confident hope that He who judges as to the rectitude of our purposes in this world, will deal kindly with them all and overlook and forgive any of their short- comings, and assign to each of them a pleasant position in their New Home. 54 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO T. J. BUTTON'S ACCOUNT OF ONE DIVISION OF CAPTAIN STANDIFER'S COMPANY. After crossing Snake River, Captain Standif er's company divided and part of them, under the command of the First and Second Lieutenants, went up Snake River. In this detachment of volun- teers, was the late T. J. Sutton who had been selected as chief of scouts, who was a very competent man for that business and was also a very good writer. After his return, he wrote up the cam- paign made by this division of the volunteers. Below we give it as he wrote it up, which we think is correct: "After crossing Snake River, the company divided up into two parts, nineteen men having previously returned to the Basin. Of the two divisions, the first numbering 45 men under Captain Stan- difer, went up the Malheur River, the remaining 55 went up the Bruneau under command of Lieutenants Greenwood and Thatcher, journeying up Snake River to a point near Salmon Creek. We halted a short distance below the mouth of the latter stream, the purpose of this halt being to reconnoitre, and as far as practicable, acquaint ourselves with the number of Indians we would probably encounter, their whereabouts at that time, their disposition, habits, armament, places of rendezvous and other things incident and nec- essary to the successful conduct of a hostile campaign. "While in camp at that place, a band of Indians, unaware of our presence, drove about eighty head of stolen horses into Snake River opposite our camp and attempted to swim them across. This gave us an opportunity to capture both horses and Indians, and by good management we could easily have done so, but lack of disci- pline on the part of both officers and men favored the escape of the thieves and they all probably got away, notwithstanding we poured a shower of lead into the river as they scudded away to the farther bank. And I might as well say here that Lieutenant Greenwood was cool and competent, but being a half-breed Crow, and fearful of insult because of his Indian blood, declined to ex- ercise the functions of his office. This threw the responsibility as well as the company's movements, upon Lieutenant Thatcher, who though neither a coward nor unworthy, lacked that self-discipline that comes only of experience. Hence when it was known that a band of Indians with a considerable herd of stolen horses was com- ing right into our camp, the excitement of the men in their eager hurry to bring on the combat, broke over all bounds and restraints. A melee followed, Lieutenant Thatcher being quite as much flur- ried as the men. Firing began while the Indians were in the mid- INDIAN TROUBLES 55 die of the river, with the result above stated. Had cooler heads commanded, we should almost certainly have secured all of the horses and probably the thieves as well, including, as I believe, the noted 'Bigfoot' who was their leader and boss horse thief of the plains. "On looking over the ground after the skirmish, we discovered the tracks of a band of Indians numbering ten or twelve who had crossed the river at that point two or three days before our en- counter of that morning, going north. We also discovered and measured Bigfoot's track, which was seventeen and a half inches long by six inches wide at the junction of the metatarsus with the toes. At that time we had no knowledge of the man, but the enormous size of his track attracted our attention and so aroused our curiosity that careful measurements of its dimensions were made, and no little discussion indulged in as to whether or not it was a human track. A year or two later, the possessor of the abnormally sized foot had become famous because of his connec- tion with and known leadership of gangs of Bannock horse thieves, who. though less bold than formerly, still raided the ranches of the settlers whenever opportunity offered. This continued down * to 1868, when Bigfoot was killed in an encounter with a highway- man named Wheeler, after which wholesale horse stealing by the Bannocks became obsolete, but not so much because of a growth of moral sentiment among the tribes, as because no other such bold and skillful leader could be found to take the place of the fallen chief. "On the morning after our skirmish with the horse thieves and capture of horses, we set out for the headwaters of the Bruneau and Owyhee Rivers, going up between the Bruneau and Salmon Creek. It was about the last of April, according to my recollec- tion of dates, and while the days went pleasantly enough on Snake River, the temperature lowered rapidly as we ascended the moun- tains, and two days after leaving the sunny and picturesque scene at the mouth of the Bruneau, we were enveloped in a dense cloud of falling snow, a very disagreeable experience for men to undergo who hoped for no reward for their services and risk, whose sock- less feet were exposed to the frosts through rents in boots that were only boots by courtesy of a name, and whose clothing would have served admirably for the attirements of a battalion of scare- crows, but afforded little protection to a human body against a mountain blizzard. "Pursuing a southwesterly course, we crossed the Bruneau at a point forty or fifty miles from its confluence with the Snake, and keeping up the mountains in about the same direction, must have 56 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO been on or at the foot of War Eagle Mountain in our journeyings. For one of our party, whose name should have been preserved, picked up a piece of silver ore during our travels and on his re- turn, carried it with him to Placerville, which circumstance led to to the discovery later on of the world-famed quartz mines at Silver City. "During the two or three weeks that elapsed between the time of our leaving Snake River and our arrival and encampment near a small lake, somewhere in the Owyhee Mountains (I cannot lo- cate the lake with any degree of precision, though I understand there is such a lake a few miles out of Silver City), we traversed great extents of lava, mahogany thickets and great mountains of broken rock, probably a basaltic lava, which on steep hillsides would slide under our horses' feet, carrying the animals with it twenty or thirty feet or more. During all of that time, no Indians were found, and the 'boys' were 'getting hungry for a fight/ as they expressed it. It was therefore agreed that we should camp at a point near the lake, which we had not yet found, and send out scouts to scour the country. Taking the responsibility of this work upon himself, Lieutenant Thatcher selected ten men and sal- lied forth just after nightfall in quest of game. Failing in his search, he returned on the following morning and retired to sleep off the fatigues of the night's search for the ubiquitous foe. It was still snowing, but by nine or ten o'clock in the morning, the rays of the resurrected sun had dispelled the clouds, and the glare of a cold, bright day lighted up the dreadful scene. "Having breakfasted and saddled our horses, we moved camp, going about ten miles, when mutterings of discontent became so loud and general that in deference to a peremptory demand of a majority of the company, a camp was made and T. J. Sutton, at the head of four men as resolute and determined as could be found in the world (viz: James F. Cheatly, Frank Crabtree, Thomas Cook and Wall Lawrence) started out to find Indians. They had orders, however, to be back by twelve o'clock of the following day, but knowing that the men would desert and go home if he reported no Indians, their leader ignored orders and continued his travels until the morning of the second day out, when a camp of Reds was discovered on what I now think was Jordan Creek. It had no name at that time. Having made sure that we were not dis- covered by the Indians, the little party stealthily retraced their steps and by riding all night and until noon next day, reached camp, to find the captain of the scouts booked for punishment for disobedience of orders. The scouts rode nonchalantly into camp and dismounted among as surly and desperate a gang of men as INDIAN TROUBLES 57 could be found anywhere. Indifferent to their scowls and oaths, the captain of the scouts made his way to Lieutenant Greenwood's tent and made his report. He had two reasons for this. First, he recognized in the lieutenant a warm, personal friend whose cour- age no degree of danger could daunt. Second, he realized that the least misstep might precipitate a riot that would terminate in a slaughter, and he was confident of Greenwood's ability to avert the threatened catastrophe. The lieutendant received the report with a grim smile and a 'thank you' that meant a good deal, and rising to his feet, went outside his tent, and calling the men before him (they all respected the brave lieutenant), he said: 'Boys, the scouts have found Indians enough to give us a fight that will be interesting, and we will go for them tomorrow morning/ This information was received with a burst of applause that made the hill tremble, but declaring the news too good to be true, the cap- tain of the scouts was called out and questioned. His answers and explanations 'restored confidence.' 'Peace reigned in Warsaw.' Preparations for the march were begun, and when morning once more illumined the face of the earth, a happy, jesting throng of devil-may-care men were riding rapidly over the hills in the direc- tion of the doomed horse thieves, who, unconscious of their near- ing danger, watched their stolen herd in the sweet little valley that was so soon to be their graves. The first day of our journey only developed the fact that we had not succeeded in reaching a point from which we could determine the whereabouts of the Indian camp. Early the next morning, Cheatly, Greenwood and Sutton rode away while the company was preparing to move, and ascending an elevation 500 feet above the surrounding country, swept the horizon with a telescope, but no landmark or other fa- miliar object rewarded their observation. Descending they re- turned to the company, and requesting Lieutenant Thatcher to meet them at a knoll far to the southeastward of us, Greenwood and party reinforced by Riddle and Lawrence, went forth to recon- noitre. They rode hard, and at about one o'clock in the afternoon had the satisfaction of again discovering the hiding place of the enemy. The Indians were still unguarded and evidently unsus- picious of lurking danger. Hastening back to the company, the cheering news was im- parted to them. A shout of gladness was their answer. The com- pany pushed on, 'hurting for a fight,' as some of them expressed it, and when another day dawned, having secreted ourselves about a mile from the encampment of thieves and determined its exact location, the slumbering wretches were aroused from their couches by the clamor and tumult of charging horsemen and belching six- 58 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO shooters, to perish in a strife again a recklessness of assault that would have paralyzed a much braver foe. Three squaws and two children were killed in the terrible melee and confusion in which a rain of lead produced a whirlwind of fright and a harvest of death. Thirteen warriors were slain, but enough survived to stampede the horses we had hoped to secure, and to escape with them to the high mountains at the head of the Owyhee River. Two female prisoners were taken after the fight, both of whom were probably murdered by Bob Emery, known as 'Yankee Bob,' but this was not done with the consent nor connivance of the officers or men, nor with their knowledge. The purpose had in view when they were taken was to get a confession from them that would enable us to capture the escaped Indians and secure their horses. Finding it impossible to learn anything from them, Lieu- tenant Fisher ordered their release while on the march. They were accordingly turned loose and a scant supply of provisions given them as much as we could spare and the company moved on leaving them in the sagebrush. A few minutes after this, shots were heard in the rear of the company and Yankee Bob was ab- sent from the ranks. Men were dispatched in the direction of the place where the firing had been done, who met Bob coming up and were informed by him that he had been 'firing at a rabbit/ His statement was accepted as true and nothing more thought of the incident until the bodies of the women were found two or three days later, perforated with bullets. "This statement is made because it was falsely charged at the time by Bill May field and other enemies of Captain Standifer that men, women and children were indiscriminately slaughtered by his command. Exactly the reverse was true. In no instance that I know of, were non-combatants killed except the one above related, and while neither Standifer nor his subalterns knew of or could have averted that atrocity, its perpetration was not with- out palliating excuses. Emery had a sister in the horrible Bruneau butchery of a few years before, who suffered indignities that can- not be told in print, and in retaliation he had sworn that no Bannock Indian should ever escape him alive. But after the above incident, no opportunity was given him to gratify his just pas- sion for revenge. "While the events here recorded were transpiring, Captain Stan- difer with his portion of the company was 'cleaning up the Mal- heur country/ Several bands of Indians were routed and destroyed in that section and two little children a boy and a girl made prisoners. The boy was taken to Placerville and given to John Kelley, the noted violinist, who raised him to manhood. Much to INDIAN TROUBLES 59 the surprise of everybody, the youngster developed into a contor- tionist of superior powers and was exhibited by Mr. Kelley in various parts of the world. The girl was also given a home, but I never heard what became of her. "After the fight on what I believe to have been Jordan Creek, and the murder of the two unfortunate squaws, Thatcher and Greenwood's party, finding their provisions scant, with no signs of more Indians in the vicinity, seventeen men led by the writer of this and provided with ten days' rations, started to the head of the Owyhee River, the rest returning to Boise Basin. I had forgotten to mention the fact that we had crossed the Bruneau and Owyhee rivers before the fight on Jordan Creek. Going up the river about a day's journey, we came upon the trail of the herd of horses we had failed to secure at the fight. Following this for a couple of days, we came upon a freshly abandoned camp. Fires were still burning, but nothing had been left except a dog. That some of the party killed, and we again went forward on the trail, which was now fresh, but night came on and the herd had not been overtaken. About 11 o'clock the next day the trail gave out and a search disclosed that the animals had been scattered all over the plain. This had been done to baffle pursuit. But we pushed on, stimulated by the hope of a big capture, and soon came into a plain trail, so plain that 100 horses must have passed to make it. A little after dark that evening, we observed lights ahead of us and across the Owyhee River, but could do nothing that night. At daybreak the next morning we were again in the saddle, only to learn to our great disappointment and mortification, that our game had taken advantage of the opportunity afforded them to steal away under the cover of night. "We followed a few miles farther and finding that they had gone into the deep snows on Stein's Mountain, and that our supply of provisions was about exhausted, we retraced our steps, reaching the ferry at the mouth of the Owyhee after a two days' fast. Finding no provisions there, we were accompanied by the ferry- man, Lewis Rambow, to the mouth of the Payette, where our wants were cheerfully and liberally supplied by a packer named Sloan. "Of the names of that collection of 'rough diamonds/ I can now recall only these: (Jeff) J. J. Standifer, James Greenwood, Geo. W. Thatcher, James F. Cheatly, Eli Riddle, Wall Lawrence, F. M Scott, Green Martin, Sam McLeod, J. S. Lewis, Dave Ficirall, Dave C. Updyke, Wes Jenkings, Nat Crabtree, Frank Crabtree, Ben Marmaduke, Thomas Cook, Dan Tolbert, W. H. Sutton, 'Doc/ Morey, Dr. David H. Belknap, Dr. J. H. Ratson, 'Doc.' Leather- man, Jas. Aukey, Bob Emery, J. M. Cummings, Wooley, 60 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Chas. Allender, John Black, A. E. Callaway, John Benfield, John G. Bell, Carroll, Jas. McCuen, Warwick, Matt. Bledsoe, Lafe Gates, Sam Hendy, James Matthews, Jesse Peters, Geo. Riley, Buck Strickland, Andrew Jenkins, Packard, Gerry Anderson, T. J. Sutton, and 'Mountain Jack,* the latter so called because he did not know his own name. From his earliest rec- ollections he was attached to a family of Buffalo Snake Indians. He knew nothing of his parentage or origin; dressed as an Indian and spoke the Snake language in 1863 much more fluently than he did English. He used a bow and arrow or a gun with equal facil- ity and felicity, and could follow a trail as unerringly as a blood hound. According to his own account of himself, he was a slave until he was old enough to prove his valor and prowess in battle, when because of certain clandestine exploits as a warrior, he was relieved from the degredation of drudging with the women and permitted to carry arms, after which his lot was one of compara- tive ease. In a conversation on the subject, he stated to the writer of this that he preferred the life of a white man to that he led with the Indians, but he feared the insinuations and jeers of which he was constantly the victim would force him to return to the tribe he had voluntarily abandoned, and there was logic in his fears. For while out with our party rendering the excellent service he did, it was no uncommon thing to hear him spoken of, in tones meant for his ear, as 'that damned Indian/ and in many other and far less complimentary terms. These insults he was frequently inclined to resent to the endangering of his own and other lives and would certainly have done so but for the influence which Lieutenant Green- wood and myself had acquired over him. "The history of such a being is worth preserving because of the forcibleness with which it illustrates the risks and dangers encoun- tered by immigrants who dared the savage in his desert retreats when 'the plains' were to nearly all men a realm of mystery and terror that few cared to enter, and where many who entered dis- appeared as completely as if swallowed by the sea. That 'Jack' had been captured by the savages in some scene of blood cannot be doubted. His fair complexion, blue eyes, flaxen hair and pro- nounced German features demonstrated the purity of his Cau- cassian blood, but the incidents of his capture and the fate of his parents are secrets that have perished with the actors in the great drama of the plains half a century ago." CHAPTER XII. RUSH TO BOISE BASIN MINES, PACKING, SADDLE TRAINS, MERCHANDIS- ING, MINING, ETC. Early in April, 1863, the rush for the Boise Basin mines started in earnest from California, Oregon, Nevada and Washington Ter- ritory. Not only miners, but merchants, packers, ranchers, sport- ing men, lawyers and an occasional preacher were in the throng. Many came by steamer from San Francisco to Portland, and there took the Oregon Steam Navigation Company's steamers for Uma- tilla or Wallula, as these places were the head of navigation for these mines. Wallula was 22 miles further up the river than Uma- tilla and a few miles further from the mines, but the fare, however, was the same to either place and the rate for freight the same. Tke object of this was to boom the towns of Walla Walla and Wallula and for a time the travel was very nearly equally divided between Umatilla and Wallula. Some brought saddle horses and a few pack animals, but the majority were without animals, and were not prepared to purchase when they arrived at Umatilla or Wallula. Frequently three, four or five of them would join together and purchase one pack animal and pack it with their blankets and a small supply of provisions, lead the animal and walk to the Basin. Many would buy a lunch, roll it up in their blankets, shoulder them and "hit the road" in a few minutes after they landed from the steamer, trusting to replenish their stock of grub at some packer's camp or at some of the temporary stations established on the road for the purpose of collecting toll on some trail or horse-bridge and also for selling something to drink. We cannot say it was whiskey, although called by that name ; at any rate, a little of it went a long ways. Another class of men who came did not seem to be in such a rush. They preferred to hire transportation for themselves and their baggage and have some one go with them who knew some- thing about the country and the road, and who would pack a suf- ficient supply of provisions along for the trip, and when the time came to camp, look out for the animals. This kind of traveling came under the name of "saddle trains." The owner of the train would furnish each passenger with a horse and a saddle so he could ride, would also pack a small amount of baggage for each person and furnish sufficient amount of substantial provisions for the trip, with the necessary cooking utensils. The passengers did the 62 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO cooking in camp while the train master looked after the animals, packing, etc. The fare for this trip was fifty dollars and each passenger was expected to pay in advance. Toll cost about ten dol- lars for the round trip for each animal, and added to this was the cost of the grub, the shoeing of the animals, the wages for the train-master, and frequently the loss of a horse or two. It took about fourteen days for the round trip and then horses and train- master had to lay off for a week to rest from the hard trip, so it will be seen that all they took in was not clear profit. Besides, it was seldom there was any travel on the down trip, excepting in the fall, and the travel up by that time would be very light. The writer engaged in this business with a man by the name of William Ish. We sent out one small train to the Auburn mines on Powder River in Oregon from Walla Walla about the 10th day of April, 1863, and on the 18th day of April, I left Walla Walla with a saddle train of sixteen passengers and four pack animals for Placerville in Boise Basin. This was the beginning of the saddle train business in the Boise Basin mines. I would like to state here that I have traveled and "roughed" it a great deal in this western country with many different men, but these sixteen passengers who were all California miners were the best all-round traveling companions I ever had. Every man did hia part in camp ; no grumbling or growling on the road, but on the contrary, all were always pleasant and agreeable. They were well- informed, intelligent men. This partner of mine did not care much about going on the road. He was, however, a good rustler to get passengers, but was not very particular to get competent men to take charge of the train, so I would usually meet the trains he sent out and send the man or men back with my animals and take charge of the train going to the Basin. In this way I was kept on the upper part of the road for several months. My part- ner soon moved headquarters to Umatilla on the Columbia, where th~ most of the passengers were now landing from the steamboats. Very soon other saddle trains started to carrying passengers and the fare was reduced to forty dollars and later to thirty dollars. By September the travel to the Basin was almost over for the season, so we engaged in packing. In the Spring of 1864, we com- menced the stage business, of which we shall speak later on.| The population of the mining camps in Boise Basin in the Sum- mer of 1863 was variously estimated from fifteen to twenty thou- sand, mostly men. It took great quantities of provisions, tools, etc., to supply the demand. Everything had to be packed on ani- mals from Umatilla or Walla Walla, except a small amount, prin- cipally flour, which came from Salt Lake City, Utah. A great many RUSH TO BOISE BASIN 63 pack mules and horses were necessary to transport these supplies as it was necessary to get in enough to last through the Winter and until trains could come in again in the Spring. Packing was quite a good business freight ranging from sixteen to twenty-five cents per pound. The placer mines at Idaho City, Centerville, Placerville, Pioneer and Granite Creek all paid well. Money was plenty and the miners spent it freely. A number of men went into the mercantile business and the majority of them laid in heavy stocks for Winter and Spring use. For these they paid high freights and many of them lost money, for merchan- dise was cheaper in the Spring of 1864 than in the Fall of 1863, owing to the overstock. Saloons were plentiful and did a thriving business. Hotels and restaurants made money. One or more feed stables were started in each camp. The owners of these places had hay cut from small bottoms near by a kind of swamp grass. This hay was baled and packed into the towns. They also had small stocks of grain packed from Oregon. Oats were retailed at fifty cents per pound in small quantities, or forty cents per pound by the sack. Hay in small quantities sold at forty cents per pound and baled hay, weighing two hundred pounds or more, twenty-five cents per pound. I paid twenty-five cents per pound by the bale for a very poor quality of hay to feed my pack ani- mals, both in Placerville and Idaho City in December, 1863. This may seem an exaggeration, but it is true. Another instance of high prices: I delivered a cargo of goods in Idaho City late in the month of October, 1863, and knowing the grass near the road for fifteen miles out was pretty well eaten off, I had my cargo un- loaded as soon as possible and stacked near the merchant's store for whom I was packing, and started my train out for grass, keep- ing only one man with me, and our saddle mules. We intended to deliver and check up the freight with the merchant and go to our camp that night. We led our two saddle mules into a feed yard and I requested the man in charge to give them a good feed of hay. We then delivered and checked up the freight without delay, received our freight money and concluded we would go to a restaurant and get something to eat. On our way to the res- taurant, we stopped at this feed yard to see how our mules were faring. They were tied to the fence close together and I could not see a spear of hay near either of them. I spoke to the man in charge saying, "You have tied our mules, but you have forgotten to feed them hay." He answered that he had fed them but that they had eaten it all up. I told him to give them some more. He replied in this way: "I will give them more, but I want you to understand that I charge forty cents per pound for hay/ I told 64 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO him to go on and feed them and I would pay for it. We went to the restaurant and were back in half an hour. I called for the amount I owed him for feeding the two mules. The bill amounted to thirteen dollars and sixty cents, the man claiming he had fed the mules just thirty-four pounds of hay. I paid the bill and we started for camp where mules could eat the grass that nature provided free of charge. Considering the variety and different classes of people, also the number of saloons and the amount of gambling carried on in these mining camps, the general conduct of the people was good. True, there was occasionally a tough character, but they were few, all things considered. The mines were generally worked by shoveling the dirt and gravel into a string of sluice boxes or sometimes rockers. The gold was what might be termed "coarse, fine gold," and was easily saved by having a number of slats put in across the sluice boxes. The water would carry the dirt and gravel down the sluice boxes and the gold would settle to the bottom and lodge against one of these cross riffles or slats in the sluice boxes. When they wished to clean up, they would stop shoveling in the boxes, turn the water off, scrape up whatever was lodged against these riffles in the sluice boxes, wash or pan it out, then they would have the clean gold. After drying it, they could weigh it in gold scales and tell what they were making per day. These clean-ups were generally satisfactory, usually amounting from ten to one hundred dollars per day for each day's work. This gold had combined with it a considerable amount of silver which reduced its market or coin value down to from fourteen to sixteen dollars per ounce. We have no accurate means of know- ing the amount taken from these mines in 1863, but it is esti- mated at about five million dollars. CHAPTER XIII. DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN OWYHEE AND ROCKY BAR. On May 18, 1863, about twenty-eight men on a prospecting tour, led by Michael Jordan, camped on what is now called Jordan Creek in Owyhee County, about six miles below where Booneville now stands, and began to prospect for placer mines. They pros- pected the creek for a few miles below their camp and for ten miles up the creek, finding very good prospects all along the creek. After a few days, some of these men returned to the Boise Basin for supplies and when they came back, there was a rush of miners for these mines and soon all of the creek was lo- cated. This creek is a small stream, excepting in the Spring when the snows are melting. The towns of Booneville and Ruby City were located on this stream for trading posts. The former place was located by a man by the name of Boone, hence the name. As for the other little town, the name was given because some quartz had been dis- covered there that contained ruby silver. These placer mines were not very extensive, being confined mostly to the creek, the bottom land and the bars. The moun- tains came down close on either side so the strip was quite narrow. The quality of the gold was medium coarse and was very pretty, but owing to a large amount of silver combined with the gold, the value was only about twelve dollars to the ounce. As these placer mines were easily worked and not very extensive, by the second year they were almost worked out but in the meantime, many of the prospectors had discovered and located good quartz claims. The same year, 1863, some prospecting was done up the South Fork of the Boise River and its tributaries at and near what is now known as Rocky Bar, then in Alturas County, now Elmore County. Some placer gold was found on Boise River and its tributaries, but neither very rich nor extensive. Another town was located and named Esmeralda and became the county seat of Alturas County. Quite a number of good gold quartz ledges were discovered in this camp, which proved to be better than the placer mines. His-5 CHAPTER XIV. THE MURDER OF LLOYD MAGRUDER AND OTHERS BY LOWRY, HOWARD AND ROMAIN THEIR CAPTURE AND RETURN BY HILL BEACHY THEIR TRIAL, CONVICTION AND EXECUTION AT LEWISTON, IDAHO. Lloyd Magruder was a prominent packer and trader in the northern and northeastern mining camps in Idaho Territory, whose headquarters was at Lewiston, which place is situated on the north bank of Snake River at the junction of Clearwater River with Snake River in Idaho. In August, 1863, Mr. Magruder pur- chased a cargo of miners' supplies and loaded his pack train of some sixty to seventy mules, to pack into and sell in the mining camp of Virginia City, then in Idaho, now in Montana, a distance from Lewiston of about 300 miles. At that time the late Hill Beachy was keeping the principal hotel in Lewiston. He and Magruder were old acquaintances and warm friends. After Mr. Magruder had loaded his train of mules and started them out on the trail, leaving his men in charge, he turned and rode to Mr. Beachy's hotel to bid his old-time friend good-bye, expecting to return in about three months to meet his family and friends that he was leaving behind. It is said that Mr. Beachy was talking to his wife about Mr. Magruder when the latter rode up to bid him good-bye. Mr. Beachy had said to his wife that he had had a dream the night before about his friend Magruder that troubled him very much. He dreamed that his friend had been at- tacked in the mountains and had been murdered and robbed. How- ever, he exchanged greetings with Mr. Magruder cheerfully, and before he left, Mr. Beachy loaned Mr. Magruder a fine gun for him to take on his trip. The trail which Mr. Magruder had to travel over was through a wild, unsettled, mountainous country, but was passable for pack and saddle animals. Mr. Magruder with his men and pack animals moved along without any accident worthy of note, making the usual drives for pack animals of from ten to fifteen miles per day, until within a few days' travel of his destination, when they were overtaken by a party of men on horseback from Lewiston. There ap- pears to have been eight in the party, most of whom Magruder had met in Lewiston, but he knew nothing of the character of any of these men. They all seemed pleased to overtake Mr. Magruder and willing to help him with his packing the balance of the trip, MURDER OF MAGRUDER 67 and all the pay they asked was their grub. Everything went on smoothly and well. They reached their destination all right. Mr. Magruder opened up his goods for sale in Virginia City, which was then a new and rich placer mining camp. Money was plentiful among the miners, but supplies were scarce, so Mr. Magruder found sale for his goods at good prices. Of the men who* had overtaken Magruder, D. C. Lowry, David Howard and James Remain belonged to the class called "road agents," or murderous robbers. Wm. Page was a mountaineer trap- per and sometimes worked at mining; Bob Zachary and three oth- ers whose names are unknown, were miners. They left Magruder on their arrival at Virginia City and went to work mining. The other four hung around Magruder's camp, assisted him some in taking care of his pack animals and watched the rapid sale of his goods and the large amounts of gold dust taken in by him for the sale of his goods, stopping and boarding most of the time at Ma- gruder's camp. About the middle of October, Mr. Magruder had sold out the last of his goods and desired to return to Lewiston with his pack train as soon as possible, before snow fell and obstructed travel on the mountain trail that it was necessary for him to travel in order to reach his home. In the meantime, the men who had helped him pack through from Lewiston had quit and gone to work in the mines. Here Magruder now had some twenty-five to thirty thou- sand dollars of gold coin and gold dust and a large train of pack mules, all of which he wanted to get to Lewiston, and the only way was over the long mountainous trail that he had come in on, where there were no settlements and but little travel. The first thing to be done was to get help to drive his pack train, care for them and help to protect his treasure. The three men before mentioned, Lowry, Howard and Remain, had acted so clever with Magruder that he had come to the conclusion that they were very good men and they seemed willing to go back with Magruder to Lewiston and help him get his train through, so they were engaged, and so was Wil- liam Page, the trapper, who had come with the other three. In ad- dition to these four, Mr. Magruder engaged a Mr. Phillips and a Mr. Allen and also two young men from Missouri, names unknown, who had been mining and were supposed to have about two thou- sand dollars each in gold dust, making a crew of eight besides him- self. They started out; everything went well until they had gotten about two-thirds of the way to Lewiston. They camped near the summit of a mountain, near a spring on one side of the camp, and a deep canyon on the other side. 68 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO It appears from the testimony, that an agreement had been made between Howard, Lowry and Remain, that at this camp they would kill Mr. Magruder, Phillips, Allen and the two young men from Missouri. They decided not to kill William Page, the mountain trapper, as he was so well acquainted with all the mountain trails that he might be of service to them. As near as can be ascertained, Page was put on guard duty that night with the animals and was told what was going to to be done and ordered to keep his mouth shut under penalty of death, and a further promise of an equal division of the money they expected to get if he did as directed, which he did. Magruder and Lowry were on guard away from camp a short distance. Phillips, Allen and the other two young men were in bed, supposed to be asleep. Between ten and eleven o'clock, Lowry managed to get up close behind Magruder with an axe which he had concealed, and struck Magruder a powerful blow on the head which knocked him sense- less to the ground. Lowry followed up his murderous assault with more blows, then went quickly to the camp where he, Howard and Romain soon killed the other four that were sleeping, in the same way. Page, who was watching the mules nearby, claims that he saw all of these murders committed. The next thing, after securing the money, was to pick out some of the best mules to ride, and then drive the balance of them into the deep canyon and kill them, then to tie up the dead men into blankets and roll them over a steep precipice into the canyon, then to burn up all the camp equipage, including apparahoes, ropes, etc. All this time these murderers were wearing moccasins on their feet (with which they had supplied themselves) to make it appear to any persons who might come that way that Indians had com- mitted the foul murders. Then with the money and a small amount of provisions, they started, mounted on the best animals in the train, one of them on Mr. Magruder's fine saddle mule and his elegant saddle. They expected to ford the Clearwater River above Lewiston and keep down on the west side of Snake River, but they were disappointed in that. Cold weather had set in and there was so much ice in the river they feared to undertake to ford it, so they came into Lew- iston after night, disguising themselves as best they could. They left their animals with a stock-ranchman and took the stage for Walla Walla before day next morning, under fictitious names. On arriving in Walla Walla, a distance of eighty-five miles from Lew- iston, they boarded another stage for Wallula, a distance of thirty- one miles. Here they boarded a steam boat on the Columbia River, MURDER OF MAGRUDER 69 went to Portland, remained there a few days, and took the first ocean steamer for San Francisco, California. Mr. Beachy was so firmly convinced in his own mind that the men who had come into Lewiston in the night and left in dis- guise by stage before day, had murdered his friend Magruder that he went before the proper officer and made complaint, had a warrant issued for their arrest and himself appointed a deputy sheriff to make the arrest, got a requisition from the Governor (who was then residing in Lewiston) for the men, on the Gover- nors of Washington Territory, Oregon and California, at any place they might be found, and would have started the next day after them, but many of his friends thought he was too hasty, and had better wait a few days more for news of Magruder, as it was not quite time for him to come in, from the last reports from him. After a few days, Mr. Beachy heard of these supposed mur- derers having left some animals to be put out on a ranch. He had the animals and saddles brought into Lewiston for examination. As soon as he saw them he recognized Mr. Magruder's fine saddle mule and saddle, and a number of others also recognized the ani- mals as Magruder's. This removed all doubt and Mr. Beachy prepared to start at once. Just before he started, some packers came in from the same place that Magruder had started from, and from them it was learned that Magruder had left three days before they had, to travel the same trail. They had not seen or heard of him on the trail. These packers also stated that Lowry, Howard, Romain and Page and four other men were with Magruder and that they all expected to come through with him to Lewiston. This with the silent evidence furnished by the presence of some of Magruder's mules and his riding saddle, seemed to remove all doubt and point straight to the four men who had brought the mules in and took the stage in the night, and to fully confirm in the minds of Mr. Beachy and many others that Lowry, Howard, Romain and Page were the men that had gone by stage to Walla Walla a few nights before, and that they were the men that had murdered Magruder and party. Mr. Beachy engaged Tom Pike to go with him. They took a private conveyance for Walla Walla, changing horses several times on the road. From Walla Walla they went to Wallula, thence to Portland by steamer. Here they learned that four men answering the description of the men wanted, had been in Portland a few days, but had left by steamer for San Francisco the day before, and while in Portland they had been drinking and gambling and 70 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO exhibited a large amount of gold dust, a few thousand dollars of which they had deposited in faro banks. At that time the steam- ers did not run but three or four times per month between Port- land and San Francisco, so Mr. Beachy left Mr. Pike to go down the Columbia River and search the small towns along the Washing- ton coast, for fear they might have gotten off the steamer, and if he failed to find them, to take the next ocean stamer for San Francisco, and he (Beachy) took the stage overland for San Francisco. Mr. Beachy reached Yreka by stage after three days and nights' hard traveling. This was the northern end of the tele- graph line at that date, 1863. Here Mr. Beachy telegraphed a description of the four men to the chief of police at San Francisco, with instructions, if found, to arrest and hold them until he got there. Captain Lees, chief of police, soon located the four men, arrested and confined them in prison to await Beachy's arrival. In the meantime, Captain Lees had learned that these men had de- posited a large amount of gold dust in the United States Mint for coinage. This was a strong circumstance against the men. After a few days Mr. Beachy arrived, almost worn out with fa- tigue and loss of sleep, but his courage had not waned in the least. The first thing he did on his arrival was to hunt up the chief of police, when he was informed by the police that he had the men safe. Beachy would not rest a moment until he was conducted to the place of their confinement, and the men were shown to him. He recognized them all as the men he was after. They also rec- ognized Mr. Beachy. They exchanged greetings and Mr. Beachy told the men that he had charged them with the murder of Mr. Magruder and others, and that he had come with the necessary papers to take them back to Lewiston, Idaho, to be tried for murder. Lowry, Howard and Romain protested that they knew nothing of the Magrudy murder, and even made some threats against Beachy, that when they got out they would get even with him for the trouble he was making for them. Mr. Beachy, with his accustomed coolness, replied that they would not get out of this scrape, but that they should have a fair trial. Page made some signs to Beachy, which indicated to Beachy that he (Page) would tell all about what they had done if he was given a chance to speak separate and away from the other three. This oppor- tunity was afforded him soon after, and he told the whole story of the murder of Magruder and others as recited before in this chap- ter. These three murderers gave Mr. Beachy some little trouble by applying through an attorney to the court for a writ of habeas MURDER OF MAGRUDER 71 corpus to discharge them, but it was very promptly denied by the court. By this time Tom Pike had arrived, so Mr. Beachy en- gaged Captain Lees, and he (Beachy) Pike and Captain Lees brought the four men safely to Lewiston. They were met on the bank of the river near the town by a large crowd of good citizens who had become convinced beyond any doubt that Mr. Beachy had the men that had committed the murder, so they met them with a rope for each man, prepared to make a short job of dealing out jus- tice to them. But Mr. Beachy said, "No, gentlemen, I have given my word to the Judge and the Governor of California and to Cap- tain Lees, and also to these men, that they shall have a fair trial by a court and a jury, and I want to keep my promise." The voice of no man, save and except Beachy's, could have caused these peo- ple to halt in their determination to execute the criminals on the spot. But they all respected, loved and admired Mr. Beachy for the many noble things he had done, and especially for what he had done in bringing these men to the bar of justice. When Mr. Beachy finished his short but firm talk, order was restored and the people repaired to their respective avocations, satisfied that what Mr. Beachy said was right and they would not interfere in any way to obstruct the ends of justice to be dealt out by the courts. The men were confined and safely guarded. Mr. Beachy arrived in Lewiston with his prisoners about the 7th of December, 1863, and the first term of the District Court held in the Territory of Idaho met in Lewiston about the 5th of January, 1864, Judge Samuel C. Parks, presiding. A grand jury was called. Wm. Page, the old trapper and miner, was allowed to testify as a witness. He told the story of the murders committed as related be- fore. Mr. Magruder's mules, saddle and the gold dust the prisoners had, all went to corroborate Page's testimony. It was shown by other testimony that Magruder and men left the mining camp after he had sold his goods for a large amount of money and had started for Lewiston, but had not arrived and had not been heard of, only what Page had told. With the corroborating testimony, it seemed there could be no doubt about the truth of Page's testimony. The reason that no attempt was made to go to the place where the mas- sacre took place was that before they learned of the location, the snow had fallen many feet deep and the trail was impassable. The following summer when the snow had melted, Mr. Beachy, Mr. Page and others went to the place where the murders had been com- mitted and found the skeletons of the men, mules and everything just as Page had described it. The grand jury indicted the three men, Lowry, Howard and Ro- main. They were put on trial before a fair and competent judge 72 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO and a jury of good men. They were found guilty of murder in the first degree. The late Milton Kelly, E. T. Gray and Wm. C. Rheam acted the part of prosecutors for the Territory, and the late W. W. Thayer of Oregon, and John W. Anderson, defended the prisoners. Over one hundred and fifty men were summoned for jurors before twelve men were agreed upon, and several days' time was consumed in getting the jury. On the 19th day of January, 1864, the jury was sworn to try the case. The trial was contested closely by both the prosecution and the defense and lasted four days. On January 26th, 1864, the prisoners were brought into court for sentence. We here give Judge Parks' talk to the priso- ners for the same reason that the Honorable Judge made the talk, namely, that it may tend to deter others from committing like or other crimes. Judge Parks said: "The duty which I am now called upon to perform is one of the most painful of my life. I am to pronounce a sentence which will consign to an early and infamous death three young men, each in the prime of life and strength. A few years since you left your homes, all respectable, all with useful and honorable occupations, all with high hopes and all the objects of the love of relatives and friends. You had more than ordinary energy and intelligence and might have made useful and influential men in your day and gen- eration, been respected and upheld by all good citizens. How dif- ferent is the picture you present today! You are degraded and abandoned, outcast, universally regarded as the implacable enemies of humanity. You have not only the Territory of Idaho, but all civilized society combined against you. I do not say these things to reproach you, but from a sense of duty. Punishment is inflicted even upon the worst of criminals, not in a spirit of vengeance nor to expatiate or atone for these crimes, but to prevent such offenses in the future, partly by taking away from them the power to do further mischief, but principally by deterring others by their ex- ample. In this regard it is right that your lives and crimes should be commented upon and your dreadful end held up as a warning to all evil doers. Your history demonstrates clearly the ruinous effects of idleness and bad company. You abandoned your occu- pations to hang around saloons, gambling houses and low haunts of vice. You became the associates of gamblers and then gamblers yourselves. As there is but one step from gambling to stealing, you soon became thieves, then robbers and then murderers, of course, and you have closed your career by one of the most awful trage- dies ever recorded, one which when it shall be known in all its hor- rible details, will cause the ear of humanity to tingle. MURDER OF MAGRUDER 73 What a warning is this to all men to follow respectable pursuits and to avoid the haunts of vice and the dens of the gambler. Upon all these sinks of iniquity should be written in letters of fire, 'This is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.' "Another thing in your history illustrates and the lesson should not be lost upon all men inclined to follow in your ways it is that there is no security to any man in the commission of such crimes, no matter how wild or remote the place of commission. You vainly thought that by the murder of your fellow travelers you secured silence and safety. You burned the blood of Magruder that it might not reveal your guilt, but like the blood of Abel, it cried to God against you and the cry was heard and answered. Providence has not imparted wisdom to guilt and the very means employed by you to escape, led to suspicion, pursuit and detection. It is a strange coincidence that your conduct first excited the suspicions of one of Magruder's friends; that he followed and brought you back here that you have been tried and condemned close to the desolate home of the murdered man and in sight and hearing of his widowed wife and orphan children. The robber and the murderer may learn from your fate that there is no safety for them and that the way of the transgressor is indeed hard. If such men have expected immunity in crime here, let them know that the reign of law and order has commenced, even in this remote region; that where bad men array themselves against society, they encounter a power they can neither resist nor escape, and that the punishment of the law will be visited upon them. "You have had a fair trial and been legally convicted and your punishment will be just. It is my duty to tell you there is no hope of pardon or escape ; the law gives you but a few days to live. Let me advise you to employ that time in making what reparation you can for the evil you have done and in preparing for trial before that Great Judge at whose bar you will soon stand, whose laws as well as those of men you have violated; whose goodness you have abused and whose power you have defied; and it will be the prayer of all good men that in your final trial you may find a merciful Judge and that your crimes, numerous and great as they have been, may be forgiven." The Judge then sentenced the three convicted men, G. C. Lowry, David Renton, alias Howard, and James Roumain, to be hanged on March 4th, 1864, by the neck until dead. These three men were duly executed in Lewiston in accordance with the sentence pro- nounced upon them by Judge Samuel C. Parks. Mr. Hill Beachy saw to it that these prisoners were well guarded and well treated and that they had a fair trial and that they were 74 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO properly executed and buried. The writer of this was well ac- quainted with Hill Beachy and can say from a business acquain- tance with him of several years that he was a man possessed with a high grade of intelligence and was the soul of honor, was untir- ing and undaunted in his efforts towards what he believed to be right. I never knew him to go wrong. In short, he was one of the noble works of God an honest, industrious, good man. Had it not been for his brave, generous and untiring efforts to overhaul and bring those murderers to the bar of justice, they would most likely have all escaped. In due coure of time the gold dust that had been deposited in the mint at San Francisco by these bad men, through the efforts of Mr. Beachy, was paid over to Mr. Magruder's widow and children. Our first legislature was in session at Lewiston during the trial of these men and became acquainted with all the facts and the part that Mr. Beachy had acted in the case, and without any solicitation on his part, they passed a bill appropriating six thousand two hun- dred and forty-four dollars to be paid out of the Territorial treas- ury to Hill Beachy for services and for money expended by him in the pursuit and capture and return of these men. (See 1st Ses- sion Laws, pp. 625 and 626. Approved February 2, 1864.) The Judge ordered that the expense of the keeping and trial of these men should be paid by the Territory, which amounted to $3.453.30, which amount was retained out of the Territorial por- tion of property, poll and license tax due the Territory from Nez Perce County for the years 1864 and 1865, and paid to the hold- ers of the indebtedness, making the whole expense of this outrageous murder cost $9,697.30. When we consider the great expense of following up these men to San Francisco, more than a thousand miles, and bringing them back to Lewiston and guarding them until tried, convicted and executed, and the high prices that prevailed in those days, the expense seems small. William Page, the man who turned State's evidence, was allowed to go free. It is said that he was killed a few years later by some unknown person. This closes the imperfect history of one of the most brutal and uncalled for murders that was ever committed by white men. Hill Beachy for several years after this engaged in the stage business in Southern Idaho and Nevada and also in mining at Sil- ver City, Owyhee County, Idaho. He died in 1874, while yet in the prime of life. May he rest in peace from his honorable earthly labors ! In the latter part of May, 1864, Hill Beachy, in company with six other men, took Page and went to the place where Mr. Magru- MURDER OF MAGRUDER 75 der and the others were murdered. The following account of the successful search for the bodies of those ill-fated gentlemen was published in the Lewiston "Age" of June llth: "Editor Age: Sir For the satisfaction of the reading public, we thought it proper to give a little history of facts in regard to a journey made in search of Magruder and party, or of what little remained of those who were once our dear friends. We left Elk City, 29th of May, made Red River Meadows and spent the even- ing with our friend, George Zeigel. "May 30th. Made what is known as the Mountain Meadows, where we camped. The snow had nearly disappeared, but we were obliged to tie our horses, as there was scarcely a vestige of any- thing green to be seen. "May 31st. Made a start at 4 o'clock in the morning; we made Little Salmon about 11 A. M., where we camped, and prospected for grass. In the afternoon we moved camp some three miles up the Little Salmon, where we camped for the night. Page expressed some uneasiness, for he hardly knew where he was, but he left camp and was absent some three hours. While gone, he discovered the little prairie where they camped the first night after the murder of Magruder and party; there he found the leggins they left, and he knew where he was. "June 1st. We made a start at half past 4 A. M. After some eight or ten miles travel, wet met a Mr. Adams on his way from Bitter Root, and, as he had the misfortune to lose his provisions in crossing the Bitter Root River, he was as much pleased to meet us as we were him. He returned with us to the fatal spot where Ma- gruder and party fell victims to the demons in human shape. We arrived at the spot after a long and tedious ride. About 4 o'clock p. M. we unsaddled our animals, and proceeded to search for the re- mains. The first thing discovered was the gunnysack of tin cups, coffee pots, etc., which all who heard the evidence of Page at the trial of Renton, Lowry and Remain, will remember as being de- scribed by him. The next discovery was the blankets which were wound 'round the bodies of the two brothers. The next discovery was the tent and blankets which Allen and Phillips were lashed up in. These we searched with care. We found in the pockets of Allen a portmonie, in which we found two twenty-five cent pieces, Ameri- can coin, a gold ring, a thimble and some needles. We also found Allen's watch. We found Phillips' hat; Holt knew it to be Phil- lips'. Page knew the pants to be Allen's, in which was found the portmonie. We also found pieces of skull bones in this particular spot, and some hair said to be, by those who knew, Allen's, also the under jaw of Allen or Phillips. We also found the under jaw of 76 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO one of the brothers, or supposed to be, as it was near the blankets which once encased their bodies. We also found two blue jean coats, in one of which was found the memorandum book, which shows that the two brothers had $1,658.78 on their persons when they started for Oregon with Magruder and party. We found in camp, near the spot where Page saw Allen shot, a piece of his skull, supposed to have been blown off with the shot-gun. We found the quartz specimens which were taken from Magruder 's cantinas, and thrown away by one of the villains. We found the rings, buckles, etc., as described by Page, buried in the ashes. We then repaired to the spot where Magruder received that fatal blow, or, we may say, blows, for we found several pieces of his skull which was literally hacked to pieces. Oh, what an awful sight ! He was murdered nearly a half mile from the others. His coat and vest were somewhat torn by the wolves, but enough was left so that they looked quite natural. We then went with Page to the spot where he had thrown the guns. We there found Mr. Beachy's gun, the one he had loaned to Magruder, and found it to be loaded, but the caps had been removed. We also found the gun which Page said belonged to one of the brothers, also one rifle and the shot- gun which Page said was once Romain's. We found other relics and things much as described by Page. It makes the heart sick to think of this horrible tragedy. On our return, we went to the spot which had been described by Page, and found the remains of the slaughtered animals. We hope never to witness such a sight again. (Signed) "A. J. COFFIN, "DAVID REESE, "MATTHEW ADAMS, "HILL BEACHY, "L. O. HOLT, "JAMES SMITH, "JOEL D. MARTIN." CHAPTER XV. FIRST SESSION OF THE IDAHO LEGISLATURE. The names of the members of the first session of the Territorial Legislature of Idaho are as follows: MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. E. B. Waterbury First District Stanford Capps First District Lyman Standf ord First District Joseph Miller Second District Ephriam Smith Second District Wm. C. Rheem Third District A. J. Edwards Third District President, Joseph Miller. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Joseph Tufts Beaverhead District C. P. Bodfish Boise County M. C. Brown Boise County R. P. Campbell Boise County Milton Kelley Boise County W. F. Keithly Boise County L. C. Miller East Bannock District Alonzo Leland Idaho County John Wood Idaho County L. Bacon Nez Perce County James A. Orr Shoshone County Speaker, James Tufts. The first session of the Idaho Legislature met at Lewiston, Idaho, on the 7th day of December, A. D. 1863, and held session for sixty days, as provided by Section 4 of the Organic Act. (See p. 30, 1st Session Laws of Idaho Territory.) This brought the time for adjournment to February 4, 1864. During this session, the leg- islature made a general assortment of laws which, when printed, made a volume of 610 pages, exclusive of the index and a number of United States laws published in the same volume. Of these various laws enacted at this session, we will call the attention of the reader to a few, not with the intention of casting any reflection upon this honorable body of law-makers, but merely to show the reader that they were up-to-date men and were equal to any emer- gency in the line of legislation. 78 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO The first we will notice is the creation of counties, and first in this line was the creation of Owyhee County. The boundaries were as follows: "All parts of said Territory lying south of Snake River and west of the Rocky Mountain chain, be and the same is hereby organized into a county to be called Owyhee. That the county seat of the said County of Owyhee shall be, until otherwise ordered, at such place as the county commissioners of said county may select.' This act was approved December 31, 1863. Soon after this, on January 22, 1864, an act was approved dividing this county by a north and south line and creating the County of Oneida out of the eastern portion of Owyhee, which division put into Oneida County all of what is now Oneida, Bear Lake, Bannock, Bingham and Fremont counties. The county seat of Oneida County was located at Soda Springs. Next comes an act creating ten counties east of the Bitter Root or Rocky Mountains, and fixing the boundary lines; Missoula County with the county seat at Wardensville, Deer Lodge County, with the county seat at Idaho City (near the Cottonwood Fork of Deer Lodge River) ; Beaver Head County, with the county seat at Bannock City; Madison County, with the county seat at Virginia City; Jefferson County, with the county seat at Gallatin; Choteau County, with the county seat at Fort Benton; Dawson County, with the county seat at Fort Andrews; Big Horn County, county seat to be located by commissioners; Ogalala County, with the county seat at Fort Laramie; Yellowstone County, with the county seat to be located by commissioners. These counties were all created and their boundary lines defined in one act, which was approved January 16, 1864. It is rather amusing to think what exeprts these first legislators were in cre- ating counties. They created and fixed the boundary lines and lo- cated ten counties in one act, covering less than four pages, giving one section of the act to each county. Just sixty days after the approval of this act, Congress comes in with one of her sweeping territorial organizations and detaches all the territory embraced in these ten counties and makes Montana Territory out of them, with a little more added. The next we have on the county business is an act defining the boundary lines of counties west of the Rocky Mountains. Section 1 defines the boundary lines and organizes Nez Perce County but says nothing about the county seat. Section 2 defines the boun- dary lines and organizes Shoshone County, but does not locate a county seat. Section 3 defines the boundary lines and organizes Idaho County but does not locate the county seat. Section 4 de- fines the boundary lines and creates Boise County, but does not FIRST IDAHO LEGISLATURE 79 locate the county seat. Section 5 defines the boundary lines and or- ganizes Alturas County and locates the county seat at Esmeralda. Section 6 readjusts the boundary lines of Owyhee County and or- ganizes Owyhee County with the county seat at Ruby City. This was all done in one act, and was approved February 4, 1864, the last day of the first session of the legislative assembly of the Ter- ritory of Idaho. The act of Congress organizing the Territory of Idaho and fix- ing the salaries of the federal officials of the Territory is as fol- lows: Governor, Chief Justice and two Associate Justices of the court, at $2500 per annum, each, to be paid quarterly. Territorial Secretary at $2,000 per annum. The members of the legislature and the chief clerks, $4 per day and twenty cents per mile each way for members traveling. The assistant clerk and other attaches were to receive $3 per day. These salaries did not seem to comport with the dignity of the honorable members of the legislature, as living was rather expen- sive and the currency which Uncle Sam paid was under par at that time. The assessable property in the Territory was less than three million dollars, but these federal officers and legislative solons had to have more money, so they passed an act making an appro- priation out of the Territorial treasury to pay additional amounts above that paid by the United States. These additions were as follows: To the Governor and each of the three Justices of the court, $2500 each per annum, and to the Territorial Secretary $1,500 per annum, and the per diem compensation of the members and attaches of the legislative assembly was increased as follows: To each member of the legislative assembly, $6 per day, and to each of the chief clerks, $6 per day; to each of the assistant, en- grossing and enrolling clerks, $5 per day, and to the chaplains of each branch of the legislative assembly, the sum of $3 per day; to each of the sergeant at arms and the doorkeeper, $4 per day; to each page, $3 per day; the increased salary to the federal officials to be paid quarterly, the increase per diem to the members and attaches of the legislature to be paid at the end of each week dur- ing the session. (See pages 627 and 628, 1st Session Laws, ap- proved January 13, 1864.) These bills were paid in warrants drawn by the Territorial Comp- troller on the Territorial Treasurer and when presented were reg- istered and drew ten per cent, interest until paid. It took time and oppressive taxation to redeem them, for this law continued in force for several years, until at last the Congress of the United States * put a veto on it. Notwithstanding these seemingly extravagant appropriations, this 80 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO legislative body seemed piously inclined, for they passed an act, the title of which is, "An Act for the Better Observance of the Lord's Day." "Section 1. No person shall keep open any play house or theater, race ground, cock pit or play at any game of chance or engage in any noisy amusement on the first day of the week, com- monly called the Lord's Day. Violating these provisions is pun- ishable by fine not less than thirty dollars nor more than two hun- dred dollars." Approved January 23, 1864. (See 1st Session Laws, p. 602.) Another purity act was passed, the title of which is, "An Act to Prohibit Marriages and Cohabitation of Whites with Indians, Chi- nese and Persons of African Descent." This act is very severe on whites who marry or cohabit with any of the races mentioned in the title of the act, the least penalty being one year in the Terri- torial prison. This act was approved January 6th, 1864. (See 1st Session Laws, p. 604.) The question arises, has either of these acts ever been repealed or were they ever enforced? This legislature passed quite a number of acts, among which is a very lengthy criminal practice act, a civil practice act, an act defining crimes and punishment, an act fixing the time for the election and fixing the number of county and precinct officers for each county and defining the duties of officers. They also passed a liberal amount of franchises for toll roads, bridges and ferries and several incorporation acts for towns. In fact, they seemed to enact into law almost everything that was brought before them for their legislative consideration, the majority of which laws have been repealed or amended. In the meantime our very active Governor had run for Congress against J. M. Cannady, Democratic nominee. It has been whis- pered aloud that Cannady received the more votes, but the Gover- nor being of the returning board, for some reason received the cer- tificate of election and went to Washington, but never returned to Idaho to remain. William H. Wallace having resigned the office of Governor for the more lucrative and agreeable position of del- egate to Congress, under the Organic Act of Congress creating a government for Idaho Territory, it was provided "that in case of the death, removal, resignation or absence of the Governor from the Territory, the Secretary shall be and is hereby authorized and required to execute and perform all the powers and duties of the Governor during such vacancy or absence or until another Gover- nor shall be duly appointed and qualified to fill such vacancy." (See Section 3, Organic Act.) William B. Daniels having been ap- pointed Secretary on March 10th, 1863, when Governor Wallace left the Territory, he became the acting Governor of Idaho. The FIRST IDAHO LEGISLATURE 81 Secretary served in this position all through the first session of the Legislataure and until the arrival of Caleb Lyon, who was appoint- ed Governor on February 26th, 1864. At the first session of the legislature, an act was passed dividing the Territory into judicial districts, as follows: The First ju- dicial district, embracing the counties of Nez Perce, Shoshone and Idaho; the Second, the counties of Boise, Owyhee and Oneida; and the Third, the county of Missoula and all that portion of the Ter- ritory lying east of the Rocky Mountains. The Hon. A. C. Smith was assigned to the First district; Hon. Samuel C. Parks to the Second district, and Hon. Sidney Edgerton, the Chief Justice, to the Third district. This seemed to put the Chief Justice on the extreme frontier. The courts over which these judges presided had jurisdiction over offenses arising from violation of the United States laws as well as laws of the Territory. It was also pro- vided in the same act that the first six days of each session of these courts held at the respective county seats, namely, Lewiston, Idaho City and Virginia City (the latter town in Missoula County, now Montana), should be devoted to the trial of cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States. The Chief Jus- tice, however, had very little to do in his district, for it was all put into Montana the following year, March 17th, 1864. This first legislature passed an act defining all territorial, dis- trict, county and precinct officers, and making them all elective, in- cluding the Territorial Treasurer, Auditor, Superintendent of Schools, District Attorney and members of both branches of the legislature; also an act fixing the time of elections to be held on the first Monday in September in each year to elect such officers as hold office only one year. In the act creating the offices, it was provided that the Territorial Treasurer, Auditor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, District Attorneys, members of the legislative council, county clerks, sheriff, county treasurer, county recorder, county assessors, county surveyors, county superintendents of schools and justices of peace shall hold their offices for two years; members of the lower house of the legislature to be elected for one year, constables and road supervisors for one year, county com- missioners, after the first election, one to be elected at each annual election for a term of three years. The reason for holding these annual elections seems to have been on account of two provisions in the Organic Act, one of which provided that there should be annual sessions of the legislature, and the other that the members of the lower house should be elected for only one year. The first legislature passed an act requiring each county to build His 6 82 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO a jail, also an act fixing the time for the meeting of the next legis- lature on the second Monday in November, 1864, also an act to tax the next annual product of mines. An attempt was made at this first session to locate the capital permanently, but without success. Below we give the proceedings had. Much has been said about where the Act of Congress, approved Mach 34, 1863, organizing the Territory of Idaho, located or fixed the capital of said Territory. For the information of those who have never read the Act, we here quote all of that portion of the Act that refers to the capital, as follows: "AN ACT TO PROVIDE A TEMPORARY GOVERNMENT FOR THE TERRITORY OP IDAHO. "Section 12. And be it further enacted that the legislative as- sembly of the Territory of Idaho shall hold its first session at such time and place in said Territory as the Governor thereof shall ap- point and direct, and at said first session, or as soon thereafter as they may deem expedient, the Governor and legislative assembly shall proceed to locate and establish the seat of government for said Territory at such place as they may deem eligible; provided, that the seat of government fixed by the Governor and legislative as- sembly shall not be at any time changed except by an act of the said assembly, duly passed, and which shall be approved, after due notice, at the first general election thereafter, by a majority of the legal votes cast on that question." There does not appear to have been any attempt made in this act to locate or fix the capital of Idaho Territory at any particular place, nor does it confer any direct power on the Governor to lo- cate the seat of government. It merely authorizes him to designate some time and place for the first legislative assembly to meet. It may very properly be construed to mean that the Governor and Secretary of the Territory should meet at the same time and place that the legislature is called to meet; but this was not a location of the capital within the meaning of the Act of Congress. It was merely a place designated by the Governor under the act for the legislature to meet until the Governor and the legislature agreed by enactment where the capital should be located. In writing on this subject once before, I stated that the Act of Congress seemed to place the temporary location either in the Governor's vest pocket or else in his fertile brain. I will now give the action of the legislature and the Governor on the location of the capital of Idaho Territory. The Governor called the first legislature to meet at Lewiston, in Idaho Territory, on December 7th, 1863. They met at the time FIRST IDAHO LEGISLATURE 88 and place, organized and went to work. They were entitled to hold sixty days' session, under Section 4 of the Act of Congress, for the first session only. The sixty days expired on February 4, 1864, at which time they adjourned sine die. The first move made for the location of the capital by the legis- lature, we find on page 123 of the Journal of the House of Rep- resentatives of the first session of the legislature, January 28th, 1864, to wit: "Mr. Campbell introduced House Bill No. 98 for the permanent location of the seat of government at Boise City. Passed second reading and on motion was referred to select com- mittee. The speaker appointed Messrs. Kelly, Leland and Miller. Printing dispensed with." "Monday, February 1, 1864. House Journal, pp. 137 and 139- Mr. Kelly from special committee on House Bill No. 98 made the following minority report: 'Mr. Speaker, your committee to whom was referred House Bill No. 98, reports the same back with a substitute and recommend its adoption and passage/ "Mr. Leland from special committee on House Bill No. 98, made the following minority report: 'Mr. Speaker, a minority of your committee to whom was referred House Bill No. 98, beg leave to report that in the opinion of your minority committee it would not become the present legislative assembly to pass upon the question of a permanent location of the seat of government of this Terri- tory, but it is the opinion of your minority committee that some fu- ture legislative assembly with greater and better facilities for se- lecting such location, suited to the wants and best interest of the people of Idaho, , and therefore your minority committee would recommend that said bill be indefinitely postponed/ "Mr. Miller from special committee on House Bill No. 98, made the following minority report: 'Mr. Speaker, your committee to whom was referred House Bill No. 98, beg leave to report the same back with the following amendments, recommending their adop- tion and the passage of the bill as amended: strike out the words "Boise City in Boise County" and insert the words, "Virginia City in Madison County" instead/ " February 2nd, 1864, House Journal, p. 147: "House Bill No. 98 for the permanent location of the seat of government at Boise City was taken up. Mr. Brown moved the adoption of the minority report of the chairman of the committee. The question recurred on the original motion, pending which Mr. Wood moved to adjourn. Lost. Mr. Orr moved to adjourn. Lost. On motion of Mr. Brown, further consideration of the bill was deferred until after the regular order of business on the table was gone through with." 84 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Same date, pages 149 and 150: "House Bill No. 98, was taken up, the motion bearing on the adoption of the report of the chairman of the committee to whom it was referred, pending which the house took a recess until five o'clock in the evening. The hour having arrived, the house was called to order by the speaker. The yeas and noes were demanded on motion to adopt the report with the following result: Yeas, Messrs. Bodfish, Brown, Campbell, Keithly, Kelly, Leland, Miller and Wood. Noes: Messrs. Bacon, Orr and Mr. Speaker. So the motion prevailed. Mr. Leland gave notice to move to reconsider the vote tomorrow. "Mr. Leland moved to engross for third reading. "Mr. Kelly moved that the bill be considered engrossed and be put upon its final passage. Carried. The bill was then read a third time and passed by the following vote: Yeas, Messrs. Bod- fish, Brown, Campbell, Keithly, Kelly, Miller and Orr. Noes, Messrs, Bacon, Leland, Wood and Mr. Speaker. "Mr. Orr gave notice to reconsider the vote tomorrow. Mr. Kelly also gave notice to reconsider." February 3rd, pages 151 and 152. "Mr. Orr in accordance with previous notice moved to reconsider the vote by which House Bill No. 98 passed yesterday. The yeas and noes were demanded, with the following result: Yeas, Messrs. Wood and Mr. Speaker. Noes, Messrs. Bacon, Bodfish, Brown, Campbell, Keithly, Kelly, Leland, Miller and Orr. Motion lost. "Mr. Leland gave notice that he would during the day, as per previous notice, move to reconsider the vote by which the minority report of the chairman of the committee on House Bill No. 98 was adopted yesterday. Motion ruled out of order. "Mr. Kelly moved that the clerk be instructed to transmit the bill to the council immediately. Carried." PROCEEDINGS OF COUNCIL. February 3rd, 1864. Council Journal, p. 129: "Message from the House of Representatives containing House Bill No. 98 passed that body and asking concurrence therein. House Bill No. 98, an act for the location of the seat of government of the Territory of Idaho. Read first and second times and Mr. Capps moved for the indefinite postponement of the bill. The yeas and noes being demanded, were as follows: Yeas, Messrs. Capps, Edwards and Waterbury. Noes, Messrs. Stanford, Rheem, Smith and Mr. President. Motion lost. "Mr. Smith moved to suspend the rules in order to read the bill FIRST IDAHO LEGISLATURE 85 the third time this day. Mr. Edwards moved the motion to sus- pend the rules be laid upon the table. Lost. "The yeas and nays being called on the suspension of the rules, were as follows: Yeas, Messrs. Rheem, Stanford, Smith and Mr. President. Nays, Messrs. Capps, Edwards, Waterbury. Motion lost. "On motion of Mr. Rheem, House Bill No. 98 was referred to committee on counties, consisting of Messrs. Smith, Stanford and Waterbury." February 4th. Page 132, C. J. "Mr. Smith, chairman of committee on counties, reported favor- ably on House Bill No. 98 and recommended its passage. Report rejected. Mr. Smith moved to suspend the rules. Lost. On mo- tion of Mr. Capps, the bill was indefinitely postponed." CHAPTER XVI. TROUBLE WITH INDIANS IN OWYHEE COUNTY IN 1864. In the Spring and Summer of 1864, the Indians in Owyhee County were troublesome to those who attempted to settle on ranches away from the mines. The Indians would steal their stock and drive them away, take everything they could and sometimes shoot the settlers and also people traveling on the road. In the summer of 1864, Michael Jordan, who was one of the discoverers of the mines in Owyhee County the year before, and who had settled on a ranch a few miles from the mines in Jordan Valley (so named for Mr. Jordan), was troubled greatly by the Indians. At last they stole all of his stock and many other things. This was more than Mr. Jordan could endure, so he determined to follow the Indians. Fourteen of his friends volunteered to go with him and they started on the trail of the Indians and overtook them near the headwaters of the Owyhee River, south of Ruby City. A fight commenced be- tween the Indians and white men. The Indians outnumbered the whites and also had the advantage of ground. Mr. Jordan was shot by the Indians and fell, mortally wounded. One other man was shot through the hand. By this time the Indians were attempt- ing to surround them. As soon as Mr. Jordan learned the situa- tion, he called out to the men to leave him, as he was mortally wounded, and to run and save their own lives, which they did. These fourteen men went to Ruby City and Booneville and re- ported what had taken place. Two companies were soon raised to follow the Indians, about sixty men in each company. Daniel Ritchard, who was with Captain Standifer in his campaign against the Indians in 1863, was one of the menwho went out with these companies, and he has given me the following account of this cam- paign: "We started for the Indian camp, being piloted by Jordan's men. It was nearly night when we camped. We were then within a few miles of the place where Jordan's men had overtaken the Indians. A few men were sent out as spies to locate the Indian camp. We went to the place where they had fought the Indians, but found they had gone. We found Mr. Jordan's body, which had been mu? tilated in a most horrible manner. We buried the body and started on the trail the next morning. Late the second day, we overtook them and fighting commenced. We killed all we could find near, but saw twelve or fourteen bucks a long way off, going up a can- INDIAN TROUBLES IN OWYHEE 87 yon. Before we could overtake them, they had found a refuge in a cave in this canyon. There was a great quantity of thick brush all around so we could not venture in without great danger. How- ever, we finally went in and got them all and killed them, but lost two of our men and another was wounded in the thigh. We buried our comrades and built fires over their graves so the Indians would not suspect the place to be the graves of white men. We then re- turned to Ruby City and disbanded." CHAPTER XVII. FORT BOISE BOISE CITY AND VALLEY IN 1863 AND 1864. On June 28th, 1863, Major Lugenbeil of the United States army, arrived with a company of United States cavalry and pitched his camp on the south side of Boise River on what is now called Gov- ernment Island, about one mile west of where Boise now stands. The Major had come from Fort Walla Walla over the miners' trail, through the Boise Basin. The writer of this met him and his troops above the Warm Springs and talked with him. His business was to select a suitable place to establish a military post. When I returned from my trip to Idaho City on the Fourth of July, he had not moved his camp, but about the 6th of July, he made the selec- tion and located the present site of Fort Boise. Within a few days a number of men came down from Idaho City and laid out the town of Boise. Some of the original locators were Cyrus Jacobs, H. C. Riggs and Frank Davis. Thomas Davis, who had located a farm near Boise, also joined in locating the present site of Boise. Cyrus Jacobs had an assortment of merchandise coming from Walla Walla intended for Idaho City, but this he stopped in Boise and put up a cheap building and opened up his stock of goods for sale. At the time the United States troops arrived here, the only buildings that could be seen from the road were a few log cabins, one at what was afterwards called the Nine-Mile House, or the Maxon ranch; one at what was called the Huff place, five miles be- low Boise; another at the Robert Wilson ranch on Warm Springs Avenue, and also a cabin at the Warm Springs. We did not see any person at any of these cabins as we passed up the valley on June 27th, 1863. They may have been on a visit, at work, or pos- sibly preparing for a jack rabbit drive, as the rabbits seemed to be about as numerous as the sagebrush. The only growth at that time on the site of Boise was sage brush and bunch grass, both of which grew luxuriantly. The only occupants that we saw were jack rab- bits and they seemed quite surprised to have us invade their happy domain. Some of them would stand on their hind legs and gaze intently at us as much as to say, "Why are you here and where are you going?" My passengers picked off a few of the bolder ones with their revolvers, and away the rabbits would run in every di- rection. The site selected by Major Lugenbeil for Boise Barracks was a very desirable and beautiful location just at the foot of the moun- FORT BOISE 89 tains, somewhat elevated above the river bottom, giving a nice view, good drainage and firm soil that never gets muddy, and also a stream of water near by. The Major had the first selection for the barracks and his choice was certainly excellent. Thomas Davis* selection for a farm was also fine, commencing at the Boise River and extending up and down the river quite a distance opposite the barracks, thus leaving a strip of land between his ranch and the barracks only about one-half mile wide. It was on this strip of land the townsite of Boise was located. As the location extended west, it passed the boundary lines of the barracks and widened her lines out to the north. This is a beautiful location and is centrally lo- cated on the direct road leading from the Boise Basin country, to all parts of Southern, Southeastern and Southwestern Idaho, and to Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Utah. In fact, Boise is the central point from which to start to go to almost any point in the western country. The growth of Boise was slow for many years, owing to the fact that many of the people who came to Boise did not intend to re- main. The idea seemed to be, as it is in so many new towns, that they would make some money and return to their old homes. Among the first who built and started in business was J. D. Agnew and H. C. Riggs. These men built an adobe house on the northeast corner of Main and Seventh street, where they opened a saloon and had a feed and livery stable in the rear of the building. Boise is situated about one-half mile from Boise River on the north side. The boundary line between Oregon and Idaho is 48 miles distant. From Boise to Idaho City is 36 miles; to Center- ville, 44 miles; to Pioneer, 50 miles; to Placerville, 50 miles; to Quartzburg, 54 miles; to Dewey, 58 miles; to Silver City, 60 miles; to DeLamar, 65 miles; to the Payette Valley or River, 30 miles. Both the Boise and Payette Valleys are fine farming and fruit countries. The former is about fifty miles long by from one to four miles wide, and the latter is about thirty miles long and from two to five miles wide, with several small valleys above separated from the main valley by rolling hills which come down to the river. Although these lands are now very productive, it was a long time before the settlers realized that this was an arid district and that to be productive the lands must be irrigated. Seed had to be brought from Oregon, also the farming implements, and at a very high cost, so it is not surprising that the first two years the farm- ers were somewhat discouraged. But very soon they began making irrigating ditches and soon had more abundant crops. In December, 1864, the second session of the legislature assem- bled at Lewiston and passed an act locating the capital permanently 90 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO at Boise City in Boise County. This act was approved December 7, 1864. (See 2nd Session Laws, p. 427.) In the same month the legislature passed an act dividing Boise County and creating Ada County and locating the county seat at Boise City. This act was approved December 22, 1864. (See 2nd Session Laws, pp. 430 and 431.) This was heaping honors on Boise thick and fast and seemed to please and encourage the residents. A number of business houses were soon built, also hotels, residences, shops, saloons, etc. The farmers also seemed to take new courage and began work in earnest to improve their farms and make homes for their families. CHAPTER XVIII. THE PEOPLE AND THEIR DOINGS IN THE DIFFERENT COUNTIES IN EARLY DAYS. At the close of the first session of the legislature, February 4, 1864, all of our Territory west of the Bitter Root range of moun- tains was organized into seven large counties, namely, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Idaho, Boise, Owyhee, Alturas and Oneida. East of the mountains had been divided up into ten counties, but as that portion was taken from us the following March and created into another Territory, we must drop that from our records, as we have no longer any claim thereto. In those days the people, as a rule, paid but little attention to legislation, but attended strictly to their work, except lawyers and office-holders. The main rush for gold was the all-absorbing thing. I do not mean by this that all were trying to get gold by legiti- mate mining. The larger portion was engaged in mining or pros- pecting for mines. Quite a percentage of the whole was engaged in some kind of trade, merchandising, hotel and restaurant keep- ing, butcher, feed and livery business, blacksmithing, sawmilling and carpentering. A large number were employed in the trans- portation of merchandise and passengers. Some few had settled on ranches and were cultivating and improving them. A few were engaged in the stock business and many more than was necessary, were engaged in the saloon and gambling business, with a few road agents, ready and willing to relieve any person of his ready money without compensation, whenever a favorable opportunity presented itself. The primary object of all seemed to be to gather gold. But I think I may truthfully say that ninety-five per cent of these people were good, industrious, honorable and enterprising, and to all appearances desired to make money in a legitimate way. The rush to the mining camps was too great for the limited amount of placer mining ground that would yield good returns from working. The result was that many returned to their old homes or to other parts, disappointed; while most of those who had secured claims within the mineral belt where they could get plenty of water for washing their dirt and gravel through long strings of sluice boxes, took out from this dirt and gravel large amounts of gold dust. Provisions, clothing, mining tools and, in fact, everything that a person needed to live on and use in his work, was very high, owing 92 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO mainly to the high cost of transportation by pack animals from the Columbia River in Oregon, a distance of three hundred miles, freight ranging on ordinary merchandise from sixteen to thirty cents per pound, varying according to the season of the year and the condition of the roads and trails over which it had to be packed. Late in the summer of 1864, wagon roads were completed into Boise Basin mining camp so that freight could be hauled in by teams on wagons. This reduced the rate of freight during the Summer and Fall months, but pack trains had to carry the freight in Winter and Spring for several years, owing to the snow and mud on the road and the cost was very much greater than when trans- ported by teams and wagons and over dry roads. The mining camps in which more or less mining and prospecting was being carried on in Idaho in 1864, were Orofino, Pierce City and Elk City in the southern portion of Shoshone County, and at Florence and Warrens in Idaho County, and at or near Booneville and Ruby City and Silver City in Owyhee County; at Rocky Bar and Atlanta in Alturas County. In the last two counties, the min- ing was mostly quartz mining. The largest, best and most attrac- tive mining camp was what is called Boise Basin, situated in the low and comparatively flat mountains in the northern portion of Boise County near the towns of Idaho City, Centerville, Pioneer City and Placerville, covering an area of about ten by fifteen miles square. Placer mining was very remunerative in this Boise Basin district for several years, through the Spring, Summer and Fall, and large amounts of gold were taken from these mines and shipped out, mostly by Wells, Fargo & Go's, express. Often the production would amount to one million dollars in value in one month. The yield of gold from the other mining camps was small compared with the yield of the Boise Basin mining district. In the Fall of 1864, many of the men engaged in mining left Idaho. Some went to California, Oregon, Washington and other places to visit their families, and returned in the Spring; while some sold out and took all the money they could get together and left, never to return. Quite a number of men brought back their wives with them and several sent back and had their families come in by stage. Taken altogether, with few exceptions, Idaho's pop- ulation consisted of a good class of people, industrious, honorable and possessed of a high grade of intelligence. The improvement and building up of towns in the different min- ing and agricultural districts, churches and schools, were not long neglected, for many of our people had belonged to some good church organization before they came here, and they soon had churches established here, and they all believed in education, and EARLY DAY OCCUPATIONS 93 as soon as there was a reasonable number of children of proper age in any district, a house and teachers were provided for them. School teachers, ministers of the Gospel, doctors and lawyers have usually been plentiful in this new country. With few exceptions, everything moved along in an orderly way. One great annoyance was that the country along the different trav- eled roads was infested with a low class of sneak, thieving and murderous Indians which gave the few settlers and the freighters and traveling people a great deal of trouble, of which we have spoken before in another chapter. Occasionally a disturbance arose in some one of the mining camps, which sometimes resulted in the use of fire arms and occa- sionally a man was killed or wounded, which was usually the re- sult of the use of too much intoxicating drinks. Sometimes the few road agents would hold up a stage or some person and relieve them of what money they had, but these occurrences were not often and in almost every instance the perpetrators of these crimes were apprehended and brought before the courts and given a fair trial, and when found guilty were made to suffer the penalty of our criminal law, which was as stringent and as strictly enforced as in any State of the Union. Most of the first settlers of Idaho were poor in purse but were rich in muscle and energy and most all possessed of a good moral character. The rule that was in common practice was for each person to attend to his own private business and to have an affec- tionate regard for his neighbor and his neighbor's rights, and to extend a helping hand to the unfortunate that needed help. I speak from experience, having an extensive business and social acquain- tance with many of the early settlers of Idaho, when I say (with a few exceptions) the early settlers were as noble, patriotic, in- dustrious, unselfish, intelligent, good, generous, kind and moral people as were ever assembled together in like number for the rec- lamation and development of an unsettled country, inhabited only by untutored, savage Indians, wild animals and varmints. Let 1 'I'TII who writes sneering remarks about the conduct of the people in the early days of the settling of Idaho, remember that it was these brave, good, old pioneer men and women that braved all the dan- gers incident to the reclaiming and planting of civilization here, which made it possible for others to come quickly, easily, cheaply and safely, get good homes in a good country without assuming any great risk of the loss of life, limb or property. It would seem that they might turn their brilliant talent to some more onward and progressive movement, rather than to attempt to reach away back to write sneeringly about the society of old times of which 94 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO they knew but little, if anything. These good, old pioneers are fast passing away not many are left, and if nothing good can be said about them by the brilliant young men of this day and time who are exempt from the dangers and hardships that the pioneers en- dured to reclaim this country, they should at least let them rest in peace from their honest labors. I trust they will remember that the foundation and support of our government and our lives depends mainly upon the reclaiming, cultivating and improving of this earth which Divine Providence gave to us for homes. Let each and every one perform his part well, without envy towards his neighbor. CHAPTER XIX. TRANSPORTATION AND STAGING TO BOISE BASIN IN 1864. In the Fall of 1863, a great many of the miners left the Boise Basin, as they could do but little, owing to the deep snow and the cold weather which made it impossible to operate their mines until the Spring thaw. On the 10th of February, 1864, the ice went out of the Columbia River and on the 14th, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company sent one of their steamboats from The Dalles to Umatilla. There were on board quite a number of passengers who were returning to the mines in the Basin. As soon as the boat landed, many of these men rushed for the office of Ish & Hailey, which had been kept the year before in the Orleans Hotel (Jesse Failing, proprietor). This saddle-train office of Ish & Hailey was closed like the mines, to await the coming of Spring, and the horses and mules were out on Winter range near Umatilla. The weather was warm and pleas- ant. Many of the men were anxious to go on to the mines, so a saddle train was driven in and rigged up in short order. The next day they started out with about sixteen passengers for the Boise Basin. That day the storms began again, snow and rain every day, not heavy but very disagreeable. The trail over the Blue Mountains on the Meacham route had been kept open. In fact, the snowfall had been lighter that year than usual. We had to feed the animals hay at a few places where the snow was still on the ground, but in most camping places, the old grass was still good. Passengers still continued to come. Ish & Hailey sent out a saddle train loaded with passengers every time a steamboat came up the river, which was three times a week. Several others em- barked in the saddle-train and passenger business. We had a very wet Spring and while everything went all right without any serious trouble and all who started got through in due time, I am sure all who made the trip had a better and higher appreciation of a good, square meal and a good bed at home than ever before. There were also hundreds along the road on foot, carrying their blankets and lunches. These men had a hard trip. The steamboats brought up large quantities of freight for the Basin and the packers who had been in Winter quarters for two and a half months were induced to bring in their pack animals and a number of them loaded up and started for the mines about the 96 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO first of March. They got good prices for packing merchandise but the trip was rough and disagreeable and none but strong, energetic men could stand the work in the stormy weather. We all earned all we got. About the 15th of March, Ish & Hailey began to run a stage coach from Umatilla to the foot of the Blue Mountains on the west side, three times a week. This point was about fifty miles from Umatilla on the road to the Boise Basin, and was as far as the stage could run at that time, on account of the bad condition of the road. In the meantime, stations had been established on the remainder of the route from twenty to twenty-five miles apart. Relays of horses were at each station and arrangements were made for passengers to get meals at these stations. Two of these routes were traveled over each day. Dinner was had at the noon station and a change of horses. While this was not so comfortable as rid- ing on the cars, it was certainly quite an improvement on the camp- ing out and riding the same horses over the whole road. About the 1st of May, the road between LaGrande (on the east side of the mountain) as far as Express Ranch, distance seventy miles, was in better condition so wagons could be rim over it, and a stage was put on that part of the road. This gave the passengers an agree- able change. It was a close game between the different parties who were repairing the road to see who would be able to finish certain parts first and collect toll from the wagons, stages and other travel. It was hard work and required some money to repair roads, and it took a whole lot of money to purchase stage wagons, harness and other necessary equipment to fit out a stage line. However, it was about an even race. The stages were ready and were put on as soon as the road was in proper condition. This stage route extended from Umatilla to Placerville in Boise Basin, a distance of 285 miles, and was ready for passengers about the 1st of June, 1864. Harness was scarce and often had to be changed from one team to another for a short time. Stations were established from ten to fifteen miles apart, with relays of horses and a stock tender at each station to have the horses ready so as to have as little delay as possible. We did not have barns or stables at all of the stations at first. It was impossible sometimes to do more than build corrals and the horses were driven into these corrals and caught and harnessed there. The grass was good at the majority of the stations, so the stock could live well on the range. Stock had to be kept up and fed at two stations on the Blue Mountains, one station at Placer- ville, and two at the Umatilla end of the route. This was rather expensive, as hay and grain was very high. The stock running on TRANSPORTATION IN 1864 97 the range did well until Fall. By that time there was but little grass left, owing to the great number of pack animals and loose cat- tle that had been driven over the range; but by this time we had prepared cheap barns at the different stations and had some hay and grain at each place. There was also another stage line running into Boise Basin at this time. Early in the Spring of 1864, George F. Thomas & Co. prepared to stock the road from Wallula on the Columbia River via Walla Walla to Placerville in the Boise Basin. The proposed route of this company was to cross the Blue Mountains about twelve miles north of where the other line crossed, over a new road built by the company and commonly called the Thomas and Ruckles road. This company made arrangements and stocked the road from Wallula to what is known as Express Ranch on Burnt River, a lit- tle more than half way to the Basin. They had good, large Amer- ican horses and good stage wagons. Their live and rolling stock had been brought from the California and Oregon stage compa- nies' routes. They built barns at stations and purchased hay and grain at great expense to feed their stock. They then made an arrangement with Greathouse & Co. to stock and run the road from Express Ranch to Placerville. Greathouse & Co. soon had their end of the road fitted up with about the same kind of stock as Ish & Hailey had on their road, which was mostly half-breed horses of medium size that had been raised on the bunch grass and could be kept in good condition and do hard work without being fed hay and grain, while grass was good. There was a great deal of rivalry between these two lines. When- ever travel was light, rates were often cut down. Time became an object. The line leaving Umatilla in the morning would carry her passengers to the Meacham Station on to the Blue Mountains the first day, a distance of about sixty-five miles. This was a romantic place near the summit of the mountain and was kept by the late A. B. Meacham and his brother Harvey. The accommodations were always first class. The other stage line starting from Wallula would only carry her passengers to Walla Walla the first day, a distance of thirty-one miles. So the passengers who took the Umatilla line always arrived at their destination one day earlier than those who took the Wallula and Walla Walla route. Mr. Thomas having had experience in the stage business with the California Stage Company, seemed to be a favorite with Wells, Fargo & Co. managers, who had established an express for carrying treasure, fast freight, letters, newspapers, etc., all over the route and they entered into a contract with this Wallula company to haul on their stages all of their treasure, freight and other matter at a stated price per His 7 98 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO pound for the year, at a high price. The express company in this contract obligated the stage company to receive no freight or any- thing for transportation except passengers and their baggage. This was to give the express company a monopoly of the carrying of all treasure, fast freight, letters, newspapers, etc. At first it seemed as if this might freeze out the Umatilla line, as the Wallula com- pany had predicted. In fact, all the circumstances seemed to be in their favor. Even the navigation companies' employees sent all the passengers they could up the river to Wallula to have them go on that line, and last but not least, the late Ben Holliday got a tri-weekly contract for carrying the United States mail from Salt Lake City, Utah, via Boise City, Walla Walla and Wallula to The Dalles in Oregon. This service was commenced August 8th, 1864. The Walla Walla company secured a cheap sub-contract from Hol- liday to carry this mail from a point on the Payette (now Emmett) to The Dalles, Oregon. It would seem from all this that the Uma- tilla line would soon be forced off the road; in fact, they received warning to that effect. But, after all, men's schemes and plans are sometimes upset by other men in a very unexpected manner. At that time the junior member of the firm of Ish & Hailey was not so old and feeble as he is now, and as he was on the road about all the time, he frequently heard complaints from merchants in the Basin about the extravagant rates charged by the express com- pany for fast freight, treasure, letters, packages, newspapers, etc. The roads at this time were in fairly good condition, so I con- cluded I could haul fast freight up for much less than the ex- press company was charging, and still make some profit. I also or- dered a number of copies of the two leading papers in Portland and transported them to the Basin the same as the express com- pany, only one day earlier than they did, and sold them at one-half the price they did, and made money even then. I also bought United States postal envelopes the same as they did, stamped our stage company's name on them and found I could express, sell, carry and deliver letters for one-fifth the amount the other com- pany charged. I also concluded that where men had large amounts of gold that they wanted shipped below, I could take it at freight rates if the owner would assume all risk. These things were all looked after and put in operation without any display, and they all worked well. In a short time, the Umatilla line had all the busi- ness it could carry. This lasted until December 1st, 1864. At that time the passenger and freight business was about over until the next Spring, so we hauled off our stock as far down as LaGrande and put them in good Winter quarters where they would be well cared for at small expense, leaving enough stock on the road be- TRANSPORTATION IN 1864 99 tween LaGrande and Umatilla to make weekly trips to accommo- date the local trade and to keep the road open across the moun- tains. At the same time a small supply of hay and grain was left at each station on the road for early Spring use, when we should resume trips. The last three months the Umatilla stage line was run almost to its full capacity, carrying either passengers or freight, while the Wallula line did not carry so much. The merchants seemed to pre- fer the line that made the quickest time and charged the least money. Of course, when the Umatilla line stopped for the winter, the other company had everything its own way. However, the business was over for the season. There was no travel, but little express, yet the mail had to be carried. The large American horses owned by the company were still eating the high-priced hay and grain, and it did not pay. The first of March found the manager of the Umatilla line on the road placing the stock and wagons at their proper stations. Everything was in fairly good condition, ready for heavy up-travel which they had from the start. The other line was still on the road, but the rough roads and bad weather through the Winter had been severe on their stock, wagons and men, so they were not in very good shape. The little travel and small pay had not given them much remuneration for the heavy expense during the Winter. About the middle of the Summer, many freight teams came on the road to haul freight from Umatilla to Boise Basin. These freighters could haul freight much cheaper than the packers could pack on the mules, so very soon the price of slow freight came down from ten and twelve cents per pound to six and eight cents, which injured the packers' business very much. Tolls were still very high on the roads at bridges and ferries, and it would take nearly half the earnings of a pack animal to pay his tolls. This was so discouraging that many who had only small trains quit the business and went at something else. We will leave this subject for a time and take it up later on. CHAPTER XX. THE SECOND SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE CONVENED AT LEWISTON, NOVEMBER 14, 1864, ADJOURNED DECEMBER 28, 1864. At the annual election held on the first Monday in September, 1864, as provided in the first session laws (see p. 560), the fol- lowing members were elected to the House of Representatives for the second session which met at Lewiston on November 14, 1864: W. H. Howard Alturas and Oneida Counties H. C. Riggs Boise County W. H. Parkinson Boise County John Duval Boise County J. B. Pierce Boise County J. Mclntosh Boise County Alexander Blakely Idaho County E. C. Latta Idaho County T. M. Reed Nez Perce County George Ziegle Nez Perce County E. C. Sterling Owyhee County Solomon Hasbrouck Owyhee County W. A. Goulder Shoshone County It will be remembered that the members of the legislative council were elected in 1863 for two years, so they would have their right to serve in the second session. This they all did with the excep- tion of Lyman Stanford and W. C. Rheem. Mr. Rheem seems to have been in that part of Idaho that was given to Montana, so was not eligible for a position in the Idaho legislature. I have understood that Mr. Standford had resigned and left Idaho. At any rate, two new members had to be elected to make up the requi- site number. The names of the members of the council were as follows : S. B. Dilley Alturas County Joseph Miller Boise County Ephriam Smith Boise County S. S. Fenn Idaho County E. B. Waterbury Nez Perce County John Cummings Owyhee County Standf ords Capps Shoshone County John Cummings was elected president of the legislative council and Alexander Blakely elected speaker of the house of represen- tatives. SECOND IDAHO LEGISLATURE 101 This session of the legislature was limited to forty days by Act of Congress creating the Territory. The members of this legis- lative body did not enact into law as many pages as did the legis- lators at the first session in sixty days, but they did enact a pro- rata proportion according to the length of the session. The first session in sixty days enacted 610 pages of laws; the second ses- sion enacted in forty days, 403 pages of laws, so the people of Idaho had no cause to complain as to the quantity of legislation. As for quality, some of it, in fact the most of it, was good, whole- some legislation for that time. But as time always brings changes, so also many changes have been made in our laws. The legislative wisdom possessed by these two bodies might be questioned, consid- ering that the second session met in less than ten months after the first session adjourned, and a majority of the members of the legis- lative council of the first session were members of the second ses- sion. A brief examination of the many sweeping repeals of im- portant laws and the amendments to many others, makes the aver- age citizen wonder why laws are enacted, and more especially is he amazed at so many repeals and amendments of laws even be- fore they were published so that the people could read them and express an opinion. However, we will allow the reader to judge of this quick work by giving a few of the laws, repeals, amend- ments, etc. The repealed and amended acts passed by this ses- sion cover over three hundred pages or about three-fourths of the printed volume of the 2nd Session Laws of four hundred and three pages. Each one of these acts repeals an act passed at the first session on the same subject. They are as follows: (1) An act to regulate proceedings in civil cases in the courts of justice in the Territory of Idaho. (See pp. 81 to 212, inclusive, 2nd Session Laws.) (2) An act to regulate criminal cases in the courts of justice in the Territory of Idaho. (See pp. 213 to 297, inclusive, 2nd Session Laws.) (3) An act concerning crimes and punishments. (See pp. 298 to 333, inclusive, 2nd Session Laws.) (4) An act to provide a uniform system of Territorial and county revenue and for assessing and collecting the same. (See pp. 334 to 364, inclusive, 2nd Session Laws.) (5) An act relative to elections to be held on the second Mon- day in August. (See pp. 365 to 376, inclusive, 2nd Session Laws.) (6) An act to secure liens to mechanics and others. (See pp. 384 to 388, inclusive, 2nd Session Laws.) All of these subjects had been legislated upon and lengthy laws 10% THE HISTORY OF IDAHO passed on each at the first session, but they seem to have been put out of force before they were ever published. However, this did not deter the Territorial printer. In the course of time, he succeeded in getting the laws of both sessions published in sepa- rate volumes. The first has the certificate of the Secretary dated July 18th, 1864, and must have been printed about November, 1864. On the second, the Secretary's certificate is dated May 1st, 1866, at Boise, Idaho. We do not propose to comment on the acts of the second session in repealing and amending so many of the acts passed by the first session. Let the readers of this, if they like, hunt up these old laws, examine and judge for themselves. The members of the second session passed quite a number of other acts of importance, among which are the following: An act to establish a common school system for the Territory of Idaho. (See 2nd Session Laws, pp. 373-383.) An act to create a territorial prison commissioner and desig- nate Territorial prisons and keepers thereof. (See 2nd Session Laws, pp. 401-403.) This act designated the county jails in Nez Perce and Boise counties as Territorial prisons and made the sheriff of these coun- ties prison keepers. The act also made the Territorial Treasurer the prison commissioner. In fact, the power conferred on the com- missioner made him about the whole thing, so far as management and pay went. Another act passed which seemed to be of some importance bore the title, "An Act to Provide for the Taxing of Foreign Miners," the first section of which reads as follows: "Section 1. No person not being a citizen of the United States or who shall not have declared his intention to become such, shall be allowed to take gold from the mines of this Territory or hold a mining claim, unless he shall have a license therefor as hereinafter provided." Section 4 provides that they shall pay a license of $4 per month to mine. Section 6 reads as follows: "Section 6. That all Mongolians whether male or female, and of whatever occupation, shall be considered foreigners and shall pay a license tax of four dollars for each and every month they reside in this Territory." Section 10 provides, "The provisions of this act shall be con- strued as applying only to such persons as are inhibited from be- coming citizens of the United States by the laws thereof." So it seems they modified this law somewhat before they were through with it, so the act applied only to Chinamen. SECOND IDAHO LEGISLATURE 103 This legislature also passed an act to change the county seat of Alturas County from Esmeralda to Rocky Bar, an act to incorpo- rate Boise City, and numerous franchises for toll roads, bridges, ferries and for other purposes; also an act reapportioning the members of the legislature and fixing the time of convening the first Monday in December. Representation was allowed as fol- lows: COUNCILMEN. REP's. Nez Perce County Idaho County Shoshone County Alturas County Oneida County , Owyhee County 2 1 2 1 3 Boise County 4 8 Ada County 1 3 Total 11 22 This second session also passed an act permanently locating the capital of the Territory of Idaho. The first section of this act reads as follows: "That the capital of Idaho be, and is hereby permanently lo- cated at Boise City in the County of Boise in said Territory of Idaho." This act was approved December 7, 1864. The act was also approved creating the County of Ada and making Boise City the county seat of Ada County, December 22, 1864. We must give each of these legislators of the first and second sessions credit for having done a great deal of work during the limited time they were in session. In fact, their works when print- ed had the greatest number of pages on record of any law-making' power in so short a time. This feat, however, may be accounted! for to some extent because of their drawing double pay, four dol- lars per day from the United States, and six dollars per day from the Territory. Herewith we give the legislative proceedings had on the passage of the act to permanently locate the capital. LOCATION OF THE CAPITAL OF IDAHO BY ACT OF THE SECOND SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE OF IDAHO TERRITORY. The second session of our Territorial legislature convened at Lewiston on November 14th, 1864, and adjourned December 23rd, 1864, having only forty days for each session after the first, in 104 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO which they were allowed sixty. We have already reviewed the at- tempt made at the first session to locate the capital, which appears, under the Act of Congress creating a government for Idaho Ter- ritory, to have remained in the hands or disposition of the Governor until such time as the legislature with the approval of the Gover- nor, by legal enactment, fixed a place of location. We here give the proceedings of both branches of the legislature and the official action of the Governor on the question, taken from the Journals of the respective houses of the legislature, citing dates, pages, etc. : H. J., p. 26. Nov. 21, 1864. Notice of bills. Mr. Riggs. For an act to locate the capital of Idaho Territory. H. J., p. 32. Nov. 23rd. Introduction of bills. Mr. Riggs. For an act to permanently locate the capital of Idaho Territory. Read first and second time and referred to a select committee of three, Messrs. Pierce, Goulder and Riggs. Nov. 25, H. J., pp. 83 and 34. Report of special committee on House Bill No. 15. To perma- nently locate the capital of Idaho. Majority report recommended an amendment in the nature of a substitute to submit the question of the permanent location of the capital to a vote of the people at the general election in 1865. Signed, J. B. Pierce, chairman. The minority report recommended that the original bill do pass. Signed, H. C. Riggs, committee. House Bill No. 15. H. J., p. 37. Nov. 25, afternoon session. Mr. Duvall moved to take up House Bill No. 15 to locate the capital. The bill was taken up and a vote taken on the amend- ment reported by the majority of special committee, which was as follows : Ayes Messrs. Goulder, Latta, Pierce and Ziegle; 4. Noes Messrs. Duvall, Hasbrouck, Howard, Mclntosh, Parkinson, Riggs, Reed and Sterling.; 8. Mr. Reed gave notice that on tomorrow he would move to recon- sider the vote by which the amendment was lost. Nov. 28. H. J., p. 42. House Bill No. 15, to locate the capital of the Territory of Idaho, was amended and ordered engrossed. Nov. 29, H. J., p. 44. Mr. Hasbrouck from the committee on engrossed bills reported House Bill No. 15 correctly engrossed. Nov. 29, H. J., p. 45. On motion of Mr. Pierce, House Bill No. 15 was made special order for 2 o'clock. SECOND IDAHO LEGISLATURE 105 Nov. 29, H. J., p. 46. House Bill No. 15, to permanently locate the capital, was taken up, read a third time and passed by the following vote: Ayes Messrs. Duvall, Hasbrouck, Howard, Mclntosh, Pierce, Parkinson, Riggs and Sterling; 8. Noes Messrs. Goulder, Latta, Reed and Zeigle; 4. Mr. Pierce gave notice that on tomorrow he would move a recon- sideration of the vote by which House Bill No. 15 was passed. COUNCIL RECORD, SECOND SESSION. C. J., p. 59, Dec. 1, 1864. Message from the House of Representatives received announc- ing the passage by that body on the 29th ult. of House Bill No. 15, an act to permanently locate the capital of Idaho Territory. Read first and second time and on motion of Mr. Miller, the bill was referred to the committee of the whole. Dec. 1. C. J., pp. 61 and 62. Council resolved itself into committee of the whole, Mr. Dilly in the chair. After spending some time therein, the committee rose and reported through their chairman as follows: "Mr. President, the committee of the whole to whom was referred House Bill No. 15, an act to permanently locate the Territorial capital of Idaho, have had the same under consideration and report favorably and recommend its passage." (Signed) S. B. Dilly, chairman. Minority report of committee of the whole protesting against the passage of House Bill No. 15. Signed by E. B. Waterbury, S. S. Fenn and Standford Capps. Majority report adopted and bill passed to third reading. Dec. 2. C. J., p. 65. House Bill No. 15 was taken up. Mr. Smith moved to put the bill on its final passage. Motion lost. On motion of Mr. Dilly, the bill was made the special order for Tuesday next. Dec. 3. C. J., p. 70. Mr. Dilly moved to reconsider the vote by which House Bill No. 15 was made the order for Tuesday next. The motion prevailed. Dec. 3. C. J., p. 71. On motion of Mr. Miller, House Bill No. 15, an act to perma- nently locate the capital of Idaho Territory, was read a third time and put on its final passage. The vote of the Council was taken with the following result: Yeas Messrs. Dilly, Miller, Smith and Mr. President; 4. Noes Messrs. Capps, Fenn and Waterbury; 3. So the bill passed. Dec. 5. C. J., p. 75. 106 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO President of the Council signed House Bill No. 15, an act to permanently locate the capital of Idaho Territory. The protest against the passage of House Bill No. 15, to locate the capital, was quite lengthy; was dated at Lewiston, Idaho Ter- ritory, December 3rd, 1864, and can be found on pages 61 and 62, House Journal. It was signed as follows: E. B. Waterbury, S. S. Fenn, Standford Capps, members of Council, and J. G. Ziegle, T. M. Reed, Wm. A. Goulder, E. C. Latta, and Alex Blakely, members of the House. The protest was strong in language, but they were short on votes. Dec. 3. H. J., p. 61. "Messages from the Council informing the House they had passed House Bill No. 15, an act to permanently locate the capital of the Territory of Idaho; also transmit to your honorable body a pro- test against said bill, signed by Messrs. Capps, Fenn and Water- bury." (Signed) Chas. D. Kenyon, Chief Clerk of Council. Dec. 5. H. J., p. 67. Committee on enrollment have examined and found correctly enrolled House Bill No. 15 to locate the capital and this day pre- sented the same to the Governor for his approval. (Signed) Hasbrouck, chairman. Dec. 7. H. J., p. 73. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. Lewiston, Idaho, Dec. 7, 1864. To the House of Representatives: I have this day approved House Bill No. 15, an act to perma- nently locate the capital of the Territory of Idaho. (Signed) CALEB LYON, of Lyonsdale, The Governor of Idaho. This record shows that the bill was passed and approved in ac- cordance with the provisions of the Act of Congress creating and organizing the Territory of Idaho. The act was approved Decem- ber 7th, 1864, and the legislature did not adjourn until December 23rd, 1864. So the claim that the bill was crowded through on the last days of the session, does not appear to be well founded. There was a provision in the bill that it was not to take effect until De- cember 24th, 1864, which would be the next day after adjournment of the session. There appears to have been some litigation and delay about the removal of the records, etc., from Lewiston to Boise, the particulars of which we are not well enough informed concern- ing to state here. Suffice it to say that after some delay, the Ter- ritorial records arrived at Boise and the capital has remained at Boise since that time and is still at Boise City. CHAPTER XXI. MINING AND MINING TOWNS IN 1864. Placer mining started up in good shape in the Spring of 1864 in Boise Basin. By this time several saw mills had been brought in and put in operation, so the miners could get plenty of lumber for building flumes to carry water, and sluice boxes for washing the dirt, sand and gravel from the gold. The majority of the mines in the Basin produced well. During the Spring, Summer and Fall of 1864, there were approximately about sixteen thousand men in the Boise Basin. About one-half of them were engaged in min- ing; the other half were engaged in various kinds of business. There were merchants, lumbermen, hotel and restaurant keepers, butchers, blacksmiths, saloon-keepers, gamblers, theatrical people, lawyers, ministers, ranchers, stockmen, transportation companies; in fact, almost everybody was busy and making money. A few were dissatisfied, but as soon as they would leave, there were others to take their places, for people were coming very day. All of the mining towns, and there were a number of them, pre- sented a business-like appearance. On Sundays the business houses, sidewalks and streets were filled with people, laying in their supplies for the week. When I first saw the crowds of men gathered on the streets and but few of them moving, I feared a big row was at hand, and got on an elevated place to watch the great crowd and listen to the conversation. I was agreeably sur- prised to find that it was an amiable, good natured crowd. Having some business across the street, I ventured to try and cross. I got through safely, but was delayed by meeting many old friends, all of whom had a word of greeting to give and a hearty hand shake. Some writers seem to think that these miners and men in the Basin at that time were a very hard class, but they are very much mistaken. I met and mingled with thousands of these men in the Basin for several years and found very few who were not intelli- gent, well-behaved gentlemen. Occasionally there would be a differ- ence of opinion among some of the men and end in trouble of a seri- ous nature, and there were no doubt a few bad men who would rather hold up a stage or a man to get money than to work for it; but they were few considering the number of people living in so small an area. Lumber being more plentiful and much cheaper this season, a number of good buildings were put up in the different mining 108 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO towns and several comfortable residences were built. Many of the business men had their families come to the Basin, and they were a welcome addition to the life in the camps. School houses, churches, court houses and theatres were built and everything moved along in an orderly manner. In 1864 some attention was paid by a few of the miners to prospecting for quartz. Several locations were made. The one that seemed the most important was located at Quartzburg, about four miles west of Placerville. Considerable development work was done on several locations. Roads were built to the different mining camps and stage lines were put on by Henry Greathouse and Sam Kelley. These stages were on the road from Placerville to Idaho City, via Centerville, a distance of twelve miles, and made the trip four times a day. They were well patronized and did a good business. About the middle of the Summer, freight wagons began to come in, loaded with merchandise from Umatilla, for the merchants. Rates were lower than they had ever been before, and many things were brought in that could not be well packed on mules, such as large stoves, household furniture, etc. The old, veteran stage driver, Ward, or "War die," as he was usually called, put stock and stage wagons on the road between Idaho City and Boise City in the Spring of 1864. He ran a tri- weekly line carrying passengers and fast freight. He had a fair business, but the road was rough and hard on live and rolling stock, and as everything was very expensive, the enterprise was not a financial success the first year, to the enterprising owner, but it was a great convenience to the two new towns. The placer mines produced well during the Spring, Summer and Fall of 1864. We have no accurate means of knowing the exact amount of the products of these mines for that season, as the gold was taken out in so many different ways. I think, however, that the amount produced in 1864 was about seven millions of dollars. A great amount of this was carried by Wells, Fargo & Go's, ex- press, but I believe a much larger amount was taken out by pri- vate individuals and conveyances. CHAPTER XXII. The third session of the legislative assembly of the Territory of Idaho convened at Boise City, December 4, 1865, and adjourned January 12, 1866. The following named gentlemen were members of the Council: H. C. Riggs Ada County S. B. Dilley Alturas and Oneida Counties S. P. Scaniker Boise County H. C. Street Boise County A. E. Galloway Boise County George Ainslie * Boise County S. S. Fenn Idaho County E. Bohannon Owyhee County President of the Council, E. Bohannon. The following gentlemen were members of the House of Repre- sentatives : J. D. Agnew Ada County M. Smythe Ada County M. R. Jenkins Ada County E. T. Beatty Alturas County B. Crossen Alturas County H. Allen Boise County Fred Campbell Boise County M. G. Luney Boise County I. L. Tiner Boise County James Carr Boise County John B. Pierce Boise County W. H. Parkinson Boise County C. D. Sayrs Boise County Alex Blakely Idaho County J. A. Ripson Idaho County James Hays Nez Perce County D. P. Barns Owyhee County J. W. Carter Owyhee County E. J. Worky Owyhee County Speaker of the House, Alex Blakely. This legislative body seems to have been very industrious. They enacted into law and had printed, two hundred and seventeen pages, including many amendments to the laws passed at the first and 110 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO second sessions. Included in the works of this legislature are many franchises, memorials and resolutions. The pay of the members of the legislative assembly and their attaches, as fixed by the Organic Act of Congress creating the Territory of Idaho, was for the members of each house four dol- lars per diem, for the chief clerk, four dollars per diem, and for all other attaches three dollars per diem. The United States gov- ernment paid in currency at par and business in Idaho was done on a gold basis. United States currency was worth in gold fifty cents on the dollar, and the purchasing power of a member's pay was thus reduced to $2.00 per day. Board and lodging cost from three dollars per day up, in gold, and other expenses were in pro- portion. While this legislative body consisted almost wholly of able and patriotic men, they could not work for the people, lose their time and pay half of their own expenses from their own pockets. In order to equalize things and have those for whom they were working help pay the necessary expenses connected therewith, they passed an act making an appropriation of money out of the Territorial treasury to pay each member, in addition to what he received from the government, six dollars per day; to each chief clerk, six dollars per day; to each of the assistant chief clerks, seven dollars per day, and to each of the engrossing and enrolling clerks, sergeant at arms and doorkeepers, six dol- lars per day; to each porter, six dollars per day and to each page, three dollars per day. These sums were made payable each week during the session. The reason for giving the assistant chief clerks seven dollars per day seems to have been to make the amount re- ceived by the assistants the same as that of the chief clerk. It will be remembered that according to the rate paid by the United States government, the chief clerks and members received four dollars per day, and the assistants only three. It is presumed that the assistants ranked with the members and chief clerks at that time, and should have the same pay. At any rate, the money was spent in a most liberal way, and certainly the four dollars per day allowed by the government would not have paid the neces- sary expenses of the legislators. Taken as a whole, the third ses- sion did very well in enacting a great deal of good, wholesome legislation. The Federal officers at the time of the convening of the third session of the legislature were as follows: Delegate to Congress E. D. Holbrook Governor Caleb Lyon Secretary Horace C. Gilson THIRD SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 111 Chief Justice John R. McBride Associate Justice Milton Kelly Associate Justice S. C. Parks U. S. Marshal James H. Alvord U. S. Attorney George C. Hough These officers were all fairly good men, excepting the Governor ^ and Secretary. The Governor was a smiling, pleasant old gentle- man, so long as he could have his own way about everything. In fact, he seemed to think the people of Idaho did not know any- thing and that it was his duty to instruct them, ladies not ex- cepted. The Secretary, on the other hand, seems to have been of a very selfish nature. He received the funds from the United States Treasury Department to pay the per diem and other ex- penses of the legislature, amounting to some twenty-five thousand dollars. A few days before the legislature met, he engaged passage on the stage for himself and another person to go to Walla Walla, their fare to be paid upon his return within a few days. Secretary Gilson failed to return and also forgot to return the Federal money for the legislators' pay and to pay the stage fare. It is said he skipped to some foreign country. The United States Con- gress had to make another appropriation to pay the legislators. The stage fare still remains unpaid. While the act fixing the increased compensation of the members and attaches of the legislature, approved January 9, 1866, seemed to cut off the extra pay of the Governor and Secretary, on Jan- uary 12th another act was passed restoring their extra pay. This appears to have been necessary in order to have smooth sailing between the legislative and the executive departments. Several special appropriations were passed for the relief of different persons, among whom were the following, to be paid from the Territorial treasury: Thos. M. Reed, attorney, $400 for ser- wces in suit brought by the people of Lewiston on account of the removal of the capital; S. E. Domes, $100 attorney fees in suit about capital; E. J. Curtis, $900 attorney fees for sundry legal services. This legislature was a little unusually liberal with some of their attaches. They drew pay from the United States and extra per diem from the Territory, but in addition to this, concurrent reso- lutions were passed giving them more, as follows: For chief and assistant clerks of the House, $400.00 (see Resolution No. 2, 3rd Session, p. 300) ; to extra clerks for enrolling bills, $150.00 (see Resolution No. 3, p. 301); to sergeant at arms for extra services, $150.00 (see Resolution No. 5, p. 301); also extra pay to several other attaches. 112 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO They passed a bill authorizing the funding of the Territorial debt at 12% per annum (see 3rd Session Laws, p. 156). They amended the act for taxing Chinamen, by increasing the amount from four to five dollars per month. They also passed an act to incorporate Boise City, and acts granting franchises for toll roads, bridges, ferries, railroads, etc., etc., about thirty-three in number. They passed an act authorizing the election of a Terri- torial printer, fixing his pay for certain work, which was well up (see p. 184) ; also an act for the publishing of the laws of the third session in a certain newspaper (see p. 211). This was another expensive piece of legislation for a few over-burdened taxpayers to have to pay. And there were some other acts, making Boise County and some of her officials preferred creditors to be paid from the funds due from that county to the Territory (see pp. 275 and 279> 3rd Session Laws). In those days, Boise County had a much larger population than any other county of the Terri- tory, collected more revenue and had more representation in the legislature than any other county. In fact, Boise County had one- half of the members of the council and had eight out of nineteen members in the House of Representatives. It would not seem to be a very difficult matter for the delegation from Boise County to control legislation to suit their wishes. But we must not write on this subject, for fear we might say something that might offend some of those good old fellows, for they were all good, whole- souled, liberal men. Boise County mines were producing the most gold, and the county paid the most revenue ; they had the most rep- resentation, and it was only natural for them to legislate to suit themselves. ^ It appears from a report made by the Secretary of the Terri- tory to members of the Third session, January 6, 1866, that the laws of the Second session had not been published, the reason given being that they were held in Lewiston on account of litigation about the capital and was not received by him at Boise City until November 3rd, 1865. (See Council Journal, p. 123, 3rd Session.) Just when these laws were published is a little indefinite. On the title page of both the Second and Third Session Laws is, "Boise City, Frank Kinyon, Territorial Printer, 1866." The certificate of the Territorial Secretary, certifying to the correctness of the laws in the front part of the volume of the Second and Third Ses- sion Laws, bears the same date, which is, "Boise City, this first day of May, A. D., 1866." So it appears to have been a long time after the adjournment of the Second session on December 23rd, 1864, until the people got the laws. The excuses given by the Secretary do not seem to be very good when considered in connec- THIRD SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 113 tion with his duty as a Federal officer, over whose official duty the Territorial courts had no jurisdiction. We give below extracts from Governor Caleb Lyon's message to the Third session of the legislature of the Territory of Idaho, dated December 8th, 1865: "Gentlemen of the Council and House of Representatives: "The temple of war is closed. No more shall its iron-mouthed and brazen-throated cannon peal forth dread 'misereres' over half a thousand battlefields, where sleep their last sleep the victor and the vanquished. No more shall the ear of night be pierced with the echoes of fierce assault and stubborn defense from en- compassed and beleagured cities. The conflict is over, and with it expired the cause. "They who appealed to the last argument of kings, appealed in vain. The Constitution of our common country has been vindi- cated and the Union gallantly sustained. The destroyers have become restorers, and those who were the last in war have been the first to hail the glorious advent of peace. Each returning State is welcomed with National joy; each renewed tie of the ancient fra- ternity of feeling is another evidence of the wisdom of the Gov- ernment in its position that Statehood may be suspended, but can only with annihilation die. I heartily congratulate you as a source of profound gratitude to the God of Nations, that the representa- tives of thirty-seven sovereignties will assemble this December, as of yore, at the Capitol at Washington, over which the old flag floats with a new splendor, lighted by the Stately stars of perfect constellation. In older communities the many precedents, like lamps, guide the feet of the legislators in the beaten way, but here in the paramount interest that presents itself, our legislation has no analogies. Personal security; protection of property; the fos- tering of moral and material advancement will give wide scope for your judicious investigation and patient research. To your care, your wisdom, and your judgment, have been confided, in part, the welfare of the people of the Territory, and under such auspi- cious circumstances you may, as representatives, prove worthy of their fullest confidence. * * * * * "For the better encouragement of ranchmen and farmers, who are making the valleys golden with grain, and who are growing in great perfection the most of our edible roots as well as the fattening of kine ; who, by their labors in man's primeval occupation give health and prosperity to our growing community, I would suggest the propriety of incorporating a 'Territorial Agricultural Hta-8 114 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Society/ for improvement in the breeding of stock, as well as in the labors of the dairy; being confident that the annual fairs, as in other portions of the United States, would be promotive of great good and mutual benefit. Annual addresses and distributions of premiums, would be occasions where entertainment and instruc- tion would most harmoniously blend. The comparison of different modes of culture, the gathering together of natural productions, as well as female handicraft; with the interesting varieties of stock from home as well as that reared abroad; with each year changing the location of the fair from one of the larger places in the Terri- tory to another; with the natural inter-mingling of citizens and interchange of ideas could not but elevate us as individuals, and still further as a young and promising commonwealth. * * * * "The following localities, in good paying placer diggings, have been wrought with success the past year, and in a majority of them gold and silver-bearing quartz ledges are being developed: Elk City, Oro Fino, Clearwater Station, Salmon River, Miller's Camp, Warren's Diggins, Meadow Creek, Snake River bars, Gold Fork on the Payette, Boise Basin embracing Placerville, Centerville, Pioneer City, Idaho City, Buena Vista Bar and Moorestown. The Owyhee District, embracing Boonville, Ruby and Silver cities, War Eagle and Sterling mountains, Flint, Mammoth, and Steele. Vol- cano District, with Wood River, while South Boise embracing Esmeralda, Rocky Bar, Red Warrior, Bear Creek, Elk Creek, Yuba, Silver Mountain, and Silver Creek attract much attention from each new development. "New mines on Bear River, and in the Goose Creek Mountains, also in the vicinity of Lemhi and Soda Springs, have been re- ported from authorities entitled to confidence. "All legislation should be carefully molded to invite capital, and the greater the inducements held out, the more rapidly will our population be increased and the greater the people's prosperity. "Here the emigrant will find the highest price paid for his la- bor, and here the farmer will find the highest price known for his produce. "Valley lands of great fertility await the grain-grower, and boundless fields of the best pasturage for the herder and grazer. A healthy climate, an exhilarating atmosphere, with a warm welcome to all those who come to make this their home. "A bird's-eye view of the accumulating discoveries in our min- eral resources, reveals that we have no less than three thousand gold and silver-bearing quartz ledges, graded in their value as in THIRD SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 115 their richness, and new discoveries and new locations are being made almost daily. "The width of these lodes or leads varies from three to thirty feet, and they prospect from twenty to five hundred dollars to the ton. "Located usually where water-power and timber are in abun- dance, they offer the highest inducements to the enterprising cap- italists whose investments can rarely fail of being of the most re- munerative character. "Among the other useful ores which have been discovered with- in the last year, tin, cinnabar, copper, lead, and iron in many forms are of the first value; yet platina, antimony, nickel, bismuth, iridium, and rhodium, simple or compounded with other minerals, are found in various localities. But this is not all; beds of the best coal, both anthracite and bituminous, with rock salt, sulphur and gypsum (better known as the fertilizing plaster of commerce), while the most precious of gems, the diamond, has been discovered in our gulches all give you a feeling foretaste of the illimitable extent of Idaho's varied mineral wealth, when the hand of man shall have unbosomed her hidden treasure. "The wide extent of our auriferous quartz lodes and leads are rivaled only by argentiferous mountain ledges striated, laminated and foliated with silver in chlorides, sulphurets, arsenical, anti- monial, and virgin. This presents a fabulous array of marvelous deposits which will require the industry of ages to develop and ex- haust. "In accordance with the provisions of the Organic Act, it will be my desire to concur in all legislation which shall tend to har- monize the conflicting interests of all sections of the Territory that you, in your best judgment, may see fit to enact. In your deliber- ations, may you be guided by Him "who doeth all things well," and be kept in health and peace of mind in obedience to His divine will. (Signed) "CALEB LYON OF LYONSDALE, Boise, December 8th, 1865. Governor of Idaho. The above extracts taken from the Governor's message to the legislature should be taken at a very large discount. He evidently had a flighty spell on and drew largely on his imagination. CHAPTER XXIII. MINING IN BOISE BASIN AND OTHER MINING CAMPS IN IDAHO IN 1865. A large portion of the men engaged in mining in the Boise Basin and other mining camps, left in the Fall for their homes in Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada. Nothing could be done in placer mining after the snowy season began. The most of the travel at that time went by Walla Walla or Umatilla and then by steamer down the Columbia River and on to San Francisco. The Columbia River was usually frozen over by December 1st, so as to stop navigation until the first of March, but in 1865, the ice all left the river a few days before the first of March, and on the first day of March, one of the Oregon Steam Navigation Com- pany's steamers came up the river and landed at Umatilla. To say that this steamer was loaded with passengers for the Boise Basin will hardly express it. The passengers were packed and jammed above and below so closely that the officers and the deck hands could hardly get around to attend to their duties. The majority of the passengers were men who had gone from the Basin the Fall before, with well-filled purses, but they had put their money in circulation during the Winter and were now anxious to return to the Basin where they felt quite certain they could soon replenish their finances. Very few of these gold-seek- ers paid any attention to the little town of Umatilla with its well- stocked stores and numerous hotels and restaurants prepared es- pecially for their accommodation. The majority of them shoul- dered their blankets (inside of which was a lunch) and started for the Boise Basin without halt or ceremnoy. The most of them had a hard time before they reached their destination. There was snow on many parts of the road and the sun shining brightly on the snow, made many a poor fellow snow-blind. The steamer continued to come up the river three times a week loaded down with passengers and freight for the Boise Basin. The rush for this mining district was greater than at any time before. The road from Umatilla to the mining district was literally lined with travel, the larger portion on foot, while some had horses, some wagons and teams. Many came by saddle trains and the stages were crowded with passengers. Early in April the pack trains started up and soon after, wagon transportation began, so it was not lonesome on the road, nor were these hardy, industrious miners disappointed when they reached MINING IN 1865 117 the mining districts. Those who had claims soon commenced work; others located and opened up new claims and those without mining ground of their own, could get employment at good wages if they wanted to work, some at mining, and others at various other occupations, such as cutting logs and firewood, building houses, and many other legitimate occupations. Good prices were paid for all kinds of work. Business of all kinds was excellent in the Basin in 1865. Mining was carried on more extensively than ever be- fore, and the mines produced more than in previous years. Esti- mating by the amount taken out by Wells, Fargo & Go's, express and by private hands, there must have been about ten million dol- lars' worth of gold taken from the placer mines of Boise Basin in the year ending December 31, 1865. There were several thousand dollars' worth of gold taken from the placer mines of Owyhee County, and a great deal of development work done on quartz mines in the Owyhee mining district. A few quartz mills were put in operation which produced quite an amount of bullion. This bullion consisted mostly of silver, but contained enough gold to make the value of the bullion from $2.50 to $4.00 per ounce. At Rocky Bar and Atlanta, a number of quartz locations were made, but little money, however, was taken out. At Warrens and Flor- ence, mining camps in Idaho County, a few men remained. It is presumed that they made some money or they would not have stayed there. The same may be said of the placer camps in the southern portion of Shoshone County, at Elk and Pierce Cities, and Oro Fino. The men in these mining camps were, as a rule, good, intelligent, industrious, law-abiding citizens. Of course, there were a few whose absence would have been better for the community than their presence. There were men of various trades and professions in Boise Basin at this time: Carpenters, blacksmiths, merchants, hotel and res- taurant keepers, doctors, lawyers, clerks, mininsters, theatrical companies, saloon-keepers and gamblers, who were all attending to their respective vocations and all seemed to be doing fairly well in a financial way. In this connection I would like to give the following incident told me by that old pioneer, James I. Crutcher, of Bishop Tuttle: The Bishop was loved and respected by the men of the Basin, no matter what their creed or nationality, and no matter how crowded the streets might be, if the men saw the Bishop coming, the way was cleared and as he passed, hats were lifted and kindly greet- ings given. CHAPTER XXIV. ASSESSABLE PROPERTY TERRITORIAL REVENUE EXPENSES SCHOOLS, ETC., UP TO DECEMBER 4, 1865. The Act of Congress creating Idaho was passed on March 3rd, 1863, but none of the Federal officers got to their posts of duty until several months later, and our legislature did not meet until late in the year of 1863. So it is presumed that if there was any assessment of property, it was done under the laws of Washing- ton Territory. The report of the Auditor, Hon. B. F. Lamkin, under date of December 4, 1865, gives the assessment of property in Idaho for 1864* and 1865, and claims also to give the receipts since the organization of the Territory, but none appear to have been received in 1863. The Auditor reports the assessed value of the property within the Territory for the year 1864 to have been $3,697,304.49, and the Territorial portion of the tax at the rate of eight mills to have been $29,578.39, including licenses, poll tax, etc. He also reports the assessed value of all property within the Territory for the year 1865 as $5,184,322.20 and the Territorial portion at seven mills, to have been $36,290.22. In this report, Shoshone and Nez Perce counties are not included, neither of them having sent in any re- port. The following is the statement of receipts from the organi- zation of the Territory to date, December 4, 1865: From the treasurer of Alturas County $ 1,400.70 From the treasurer of Ada County 1,512.66 From the treasurer of Boise County 10,000.00 From the treasurer of Idaho County 3,050.73 From the treasurer of Nez Perce County 336.09 From the treasurer of Owyhee County 3,667.99 From the treasurer of Shoshone County 961.71 From the treasurer of Oneida County No returns For library fund 70.00 Total receipts $20,999-88 The following is appended to the above statement: "The treas- urer of Nez Perce County has retained from the Territorial fund, three thousand four hundred and fifty-three dollars and thirty one- hundredths ($3,453.30) to defray the expenses incurred in the trial of the Magruder murderers, which amount has been adjudged to EARLY FINANCES 119 be a Territorial charge by the court of the First District." It will be remembered that the Magruder murderers were the men whom Hill Beachy captured and who were tried and convicted at Lewis- ton early in 1864. This report of the Auditor does not state whether all of the money received by the Territorial Treasurer was for a property tax or a part from poll tax and license tax. The law at that time required the collection of a poll tax, a foreign miners' tax, and licenses from nearly all the business houses. The officers did not seem to collect very closely, neither were they very prompt in re- mitting to the Territorial Treasurer. The expenses, however, ran up very rapidly, as shown by the following report, giving the amount of warrants issued up to date: To the members, officers and attaches of the First ses- sion of the legislature, 1863 and 1864, extra compen- sation $10,626.00 To the members, officers and clerks of the Second ses- sion of the legislature, extra compensation 7,450.00 Governor's salary, extra compensation 2,111.11 Supreme Judges' salaries, extra compensation 9*229-05 Secretary's salary, extra compensation 2,754.76 District Attorney's Salary 5,132.85 Auditor's salary 1,500.00 Clerk of the Supreme Court 297.00 Appropriations by the legislature for sundries 10,875.00 Supporting Territorial prisoners 9,650.75 Taking enumeration in 1863 3,600.00 Territorial printing 1,942.00 Contingent and incidental 2,377.52 Total $67,565.54 Total amount of warrants redeemed $17,036.41 Warrants outstanding December 4, 1865 $50,529-13 Estimated amount of indebtedness for which no warrants had been issued $10,000.00 Total receipts, as above $20,999-88 Deduct warrants paid 17,036.41 Balance $ 3,963.47 Express charges, etc., paid $ 2,894.14 Balance in Treasury Dec. 5, '65 $ 1,069.83 While the Auditor estimates and adds to the amount of outstand- 120 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO ing warrants, $10,000 for which no warrants had been issued, we find that the Third session of our law-makers found and made appropriations to pay a much larger amount, to-wit: Boise County, for keeping Territorial prisoners from March 7th, 1864, to Jan. 1, 1865 $ 8,943.30 To sheriff for keeping Territorial prisoners from Jan. 1, 1865, to Dec. 31, 1865 9,000.00 To sheriff for the protection of prisoners and property during the late riot in said county 2,500.00 (This last item of $2,500 was to reimburse the sheriff for extra expense incurred in preventing en- raged citizens from raiding the county jail and taking Fred Patterson, who had killed Sumner Pinkham.) The above amounts were to be retained out of the Territorial portion of the taxes due from Boise County to the Territory, amounting to 20,443.30 Appropriation to pay A. L. Downer, clerk of the Su- preme Court from June 1, 1864, to Jan. 1, 1866 (see p. 278, 3rd Session Laws) 1,000.00 Appropriation for prison commissioner 200.00 Appropriated for Curtis for legal services 900.00 Appropriated for Downer for legal services (p. 272) . . . 100.00 Total $22,643.30 The above all appears to have been indebtedness incurred, but unsettled at the time the Auditor and Treasurer made their reports on December 4, 1865, excepting for the expense of keeping Terri- torial prisoners for the month of December, 1865, and a small amount on some of the salaried officers. This amount could not have exceeded $1,643.30, which would have left the unsettled ac- counts against the Territory on December 1, 1865, as found due by the legislature, about $21,000.00 instead of $10,000.00, as es- timated by the Auditor. Something over $20,000 of these accounts were of such a nature that the holders of them were made pre- ferred creditors and got the cash, while others had to take Terri- torial warrants which had to be discounted in order to get money on them. It will, however, be remembered by old-timers that Boise County had the people who owned the rich mines. They controlled the legislature and it is presumed they preferred keeping their portion of Territorial tax money at home. There was at least one consolation about this matter of the Boise County preferred cred- itors, they seem to have been paid out of Territorial funds that were still in the hands of the county treasurer and county tax collector, EARLY FINANCES 121 and had never been sent to the Territorial Treasurer. The officers in that county who were trusted with the safe-keeping of the pub- lic money, seemed to hold a tight grip on it, judging from the Aud- itor's report of December 4th, 1865. He says (p. 6) : "The ag- gregate amount due from Boise County to the Territory on the 6th day of October, 1865, was $29,621." After paying the claims mentioned above, $20,443.30, they would still owe the Territory $9,177.70. On page 6, the Auditor appears to include in his charge against Boise County about $1,800, which he claims was col- lected for the Territory in 1863. This is the first and only refer- ence we have found claiming that revenue was collected in 1863. The Auditor in his report of 1865, on page 2, "State No. 1 of re- ceipts from the organization of the Territory to date," giving the total receipts $20,999-88, gives the names of the counties and the amounts received from each, but does not say for what year they were paid or whether for property tax or license, so we are some- what in the dark in regard to this particular fund. We have before us the report of the Territorial Treasurer (Hon. Ephriam Smith) under the same date as the Auditor's, December 4, 1865. Mr. Smith seems to have succeeded some one else as Terri- torial Treasurer on May 19th, 1865. He gives no statement of the transactions of his predecessor, nor even his name. His report is very brief, showing receipts during his term to be $5,585.43, and disbursements, $4,516.10; balance on hand, $1,069-33, and he says: "I have set this amount aside to pay the following orders upon the general fund, viz: Nos. 40, 41, 43 and 44, amounting to $1,080." He does not say what these orders are for or who held them. The members of this Third session of the legislature, realizing the bad condition of the finances of the Territory, very wisely passed an act to bond the Territorial indebtedness for ten years at 12% per annum, interest payable semi-annually. (See pp. 156, 157 and 158, 3rd Session Laws.) This at least gave the taxpayers some temporary relief. We might say more on this subject, but prefer to stop. We have before us the report made to the Governor by Hon. J. A. Chittenden, Superintendent of Public Instruction, under date of December 1st, 1865. He gives the number of children of school age in all the counties except Shoshone and Oneida counties. Those reported are as follows (school age being between 4 and 21 years) : Ada County 337 Boise County 602 Idaho County 12 Owyhee County 93 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Nez Perce County 75 Alturas County 120 Total number 1,239 He reports the following schools: Ada County 2 Alturas County 1 Boise County 4 Nez Perce County 1 Idaho County 1 Owyhee County 3 Number of school houses in the Territory 3 This Superintendent in his report, makes a number of good rec- ommendations to the legislature for improvements or amendments to the school laws, some of which were adopted by the legislature. CHAPTER XXV. STAGING CARRYING U. 8. MAIL EXPRESS AND FREIGHTING, UP TO JULY, 1870. We have spoken in a previous chapter of how and by whom the stage business was started up in Idaho in 1864. All of these lines spoken of then, continued to run for several years, with an occa- sional change in the ownership. Several other lines were put on other routes, among which were, Greathouse & Co., from Placer- ville, via Centerville to Idaho City, 12 miles, double daily; Ward & Co., Idaho City to Boise City, 36 miles, tri-weekly; Barns & Yates, Boise City to Silver City, 65 miles, tri-weekly. In 1865 Ish sold out his interest in the Ish & Hailey stage line that ran between Umatilla and Boise, to Hailey, and the same year Ish bought a half interest in the Thomas & Co. stage line that ran from Walla Walla to Express Ranch. In 1865 Greathouse & Co. bought Ward & Go's, line of stages that ran between Idaho City and Boise City, and ran a daily line. In 1865 Hill Beachy bought out Barns & Yates' stage line between Boise City and Silver City. In 1865 Hailey bought a part of the line and rolling stock, stations and sub-mail contract from Thomas, Ish & Co., and they sold the balance to other parties and quit the stage business. In 1866 Hill Beachy, Great- house, Kelly and Hailey took a sub-mail contract from Jesse D. Carr of California, to carry a tri-weekly mail from Boise City to Virginia City, Nevada, Beachy having the road already stocked between Boise City and Silver City. This route from Boise City to Virginia City was a very expensive and dangerous route, the most of the road being through an unsettled country, with marauding Indians roam- ing over the country. The same year Capt. John Mullan and oth- ers put on a stage line from Silver City to Red Bluffs, California. This was also an expensive and dangerous route. In 1866, B. M. Durell & Co. put on what they called a "fast freight" and passenger line from Umatilla, Oregon, to Oldsferry on Snake River, ninety miles west of Boise City. There they con- nected with a steamboat that had been built and put on Snake River to run between Oldsferry and the ferry on Snake River, on the route from Boise City to Silver City. This last named place was thirty-three miles from Boise City. Durell & Co. stocked this thirty-three miles of road from Boise City to the Owyhee ferry. This steamer was built and put on the Snake River with the view of having all freight, mail, express and passengers transferred to 124 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO the steamer at Oldsferry, to be carried by them to the Owyhee ferry on Snake River, and then to be transferred back to stages and freight wagons to be hauled thirty-three miles to Boise City over a very bad road, along which there was no range feed, nor any grain, hay or water. It cost more to unload and reload and haul over this thirty-three miles than it did to haul straight through the ninety miles from Olds ferry to Boise City over a good road which had range grass, water, hay and grain on it, to say nothing about the steamer charge. It was no saving of time and was more expensive by this part-water route that started from one lone ferry with no settlements near, and went to another lone ferry on the desert. This steamboat business was a failure. The boat ran a few weeks and then tied up until high water the next Spring, when it was run down the Snake River into the Columbia River by Captain Stump and put in commission on the Columbia River. Greathouse, Kelly and Hailey bought out Durell & Go's, fast freight and stage line. Early in 1867, Hill Beachy bought out Greathouse, Kelly and Hailey's interest in the stage line from Silver City, Idaho, to Vir- ginia City, Nevada, and let them have in part payment, his stage line from Boise City to Silver City. Soon after this a deal was made by which Henry Greathouse got all the stage business from Boise City to Idaho City and into Boise Basin, and Sam Kelly got the route from Boise City to Silver City, and Hailey, the routes from Boise City to Umatilla, Walla Walla and The Dalles. The last three routes were all run daily and carried the United States mail under sub-contracts, at low figures, and each of them carried Wells, Fargo & Go's, express. They all did a fairly good business. Early in 1867, Wells, Fargo & Co. bought Ben Halliday's over- land stage routes from Salt Lake City to Boise City, and from Salt Lake City to Helena, Montana. This change of ownership made no difference with the running and connections with the different lines at Boise City. Everything went along fairly well on all these stage routes, ex- cept on a portion of Beachy's route and on a portion of Hailey's route in the Burnt River country, the Indians were very trouble- some. Commander Major Marshal, at the Boise Barracks, was very good to help us out in these troubles. He sent troops, mounted, on several occasions, to escort our stage over the danger- ous places, and allowed them to remain as long as was necessary. In addition to the annoyance by Indians, there were a few of what were called "road agents" (highwaymen) who would occa- sionally hold up a stage, take Wells, Fargo & Go's, express box, and sometimes rob the passengers; but we generally got the rob- CARRYING U. S. MAIL IN 1870 125 bers, and most of the money they took, and had the robbers pros- ecuted and sent up. They soon learned that it was not a profitable business to rob stages. In 1868, Greathouse sold out his stage business from Boise to and into Boise Basin, to Eb. and Joseph Pinkham. Kelly sold his stage line from Boise to Silver City to John Early. On September 30th, 1868, the old Holliday mail contract ex- pired, under which Wells, Fargo & Co. was carrying the mail from Salt Lake to Helena, Montana, and to Boise City, Idaho, and under which contract Hailey was carrying the mail under a sub- contract from Boise City to The Dalles, Oregon. The new con- tract was awarded to C. M. Lockwood of The Dalles, Oregon, at a very low figure, service to commence October 1st, 1868. This change created some confusion for awhile. This contract was only let for one year and nine months, to expire on June 30th, 1870, at which time all of the mail contracts on tihs coast expired, and new contracts were let for four years. Wells, Fargo & Co. sold their stage line from Ogden to Helena, Montana, to Gilmer, Saulsbury & Co. early in 1869> they having secured the contract for carrying the mail. Wells, Fargo & Co. could not make a deal with Lockwood for the sale of their stage line from Salt Lake to Boise Sity, so they took their live and roll- ing stock all off the road and Lockwood put stock on that portion of the road to carry the United States mail between Salt Lake and Boise City, and made arrangements with Hailey to carry the mail between Boise and The Dalles. This arrangement lasted until February 1, 1869^ when Lockwood sold out his stock and mail con- tract to Hailey, who ran the entire route until soon after the Union and Pacific railroads were connected. The Postoffice Department discontinued the Salt Lake end of the route and made Kelton, on the Central Pacific railroad, the eastern terminus. Hailey continued to run this line from Kelton via Boise and Walla WaUa to The DaUes until July, 1870, at which time his contract for carrying the mail expired. He sold his stock, wagons, stations, etc., to the Northwestern Stage Co., who had the contract for carrying the mail over this route for four years. The same company got the contract for carrying the mail from Boise City via Silver City to Winnemucca, Nevada, which route had been run by John Earley and Hill Beachy. This company bought them out. They also bought out Eb. and Joseph Pinkham on the Boise City and Boise Basin route. This was an eastern company. The first proprietors were Owen Teller, Bradley Barlow and J. W. Parker. Later on the firm changed to C. C. Hundley and Bradley Barlow. They ran these routes, carrying U. S. mail, Wells, Fargo 126 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO & Co. express, and passengers for eight years, until July 1st, 1878, when another change was made, of which we will speak later on. FREIGHTING AND PACKING. Most all the goods continued to be freighted by mule, horse and ox teams from Umatilla to Boise City and Boise Basin, until the summer of 1869, when a change was made on the road from Boise to Kelton, the distance being about forty miles shorter than from Boise City to Umatilla, with better grass and less tolls. Most all the merchants in Boise City and in Boise Basin had their goods shipped by railroad to Kelton, and freighted from there by teams. The price of hauling freight by this time was greatly reduced, ranging from four to six cents per pound. Most of the freight for Silver City was hauled from Winnemucca at about the same rate per pound. Pack trains could not compete with this low rate paid for freight. Some of them left for other parts, some quit and sold their mules for other purposes, and a few were still kept in com- mission to pack small cargoes into mountain mining camps where there were no wagon roads. CHAPTER XXVI. PROGRESS MADE BY THE PEOPLE IN DEVELOPING THE COUNTRY IN 1865-6, CONDUCT OF THE PEOPLE, ETC. The past two years had shown quite a change in agriculture. Quite a number of locations of the bottom lands had been made along many of the creeks and rivers in southern and southeastern Idaho and a number in the northern counties, houses built, fields fenced, cleared, plowed and sowed to grain, garden truck planted, and a few small irrigating ditches made. All of the land that was properly cultivated and irrigated yielded good crops, and much of it on the low bottoms yielded Jfair crops without irrigation. The wild hay on the lowlands gave good returns. Taken altogether, the returns from farming were generally very satisfactory. Many of the people, by this time, had made up their minds that Idaho was a pretty good country to live in, and went to work with a will to make comfortable homes. They, also, began to take more interest in public schools, and they built school houses at convenient places for their children to attend. The farmers had a good cash market at remunerative prices for all the superfluous farm pro- ducts they raised. Boise Basin mines were a good market for all vegetables, and the freighters and stage men purchased all the grain and hay they could spare paying them good prices. So the outlook for the farmer, in those days, was encouraging. By this time the roads between the Boise country and steam- boat navigation on the Columbia River had been put in condition, so that large freight wagons could be hauled over them. Usually three wagons were coupled or trailed together, one behind the other, loaded with 20,000 pounds of goods, and drawn by twelve good mules, or six or seven yoke of oxen. This mode of transporting freight lowered the price about one-half from what it had been when transported on pack mules or pack horses. This all tended to help the farmers as well as others. It enabled them to purchase their groceries and other necessary supplies much cheaper, and the merchant could no longer charge such enormous prices on account of the very high rate he had to pay for freight. The outside range was very good. Wild bunch grass grew in abundance. Quite a number drove cattle and horses into Southern Idaho; some were driven in the southeastern counties; and some, in the northern counties. Quite a number of men engaged in the stock business, which paid them well. For several years it was THE HISTORY OF IDAHO not necessary to feed range stock through the winter; they could winter well on the bottom land and low hills, where but little snow fell and plenty of dry bunch grass stood up above the snow that fell and was good feed. The home market was good for beef, and also for horses, which were needed for teaming, ranching, staging and livery. MINES. The placer mines in Boise Basin produced very well the last two years, but some of those mines which paid well had been pretty well worked over. Quite a number of men, who had been engaged in working these mines, became anxious to return to their old homes. They sold out their partly worked-out placer mining claims to other miners or to Chinamen, and took all their net earnings and left for their old homes to enjoy tfie profits of their few years of hard work and deprivation incident to frontier life. At Silver City in Owyhee County, several quartz mills had been built, and a number of rich quartz ledges had been developed pro- ducing ore from which large returns of gold and silver were taken. The mineral products of this mining camp were on the increase in 1865 and 1866. ROCKY BAR AND ATLANTA. These camps, being situated in a mountainous country with very rough roads, made it very expensive to get supplies and machinery in. It seemed to be a difficult matter to enlist capital to invest to develop and operate the quartz mines at these camps, and not very much was done there. IN THE NORTHERN COUNTIES. Several white men, and a few Chinamen were still working in the placer mines at Orofino, Pierce City, Elk City, Florence, and Warrens, but with no large results. HEALTH. The general health of the people of the Territory had been good, with but little sickness of any kind. The climate and the water were good; the air, bracing; and the people, cheerful and all look- ing forward to a bright future. CONDITION AND CONDUCT OP THE PEOPLE IN IDAHO IN 1865. Some writers, who never lived in Idaho, have seen fit to give ex- aggerated statements in regard to the kind of people who lived in Idaho in the early days; and, more especially, to criticise the con- duct of the brave pioneers who paved the way for others to come. From some of these statements, the reader would infer that PROGRESS MADE IN 1865-6 129 Idaho was first settled by a band of thieves, robbers, murderers and general law-breakers. We desire, in behalf of justice to those brave old pioneers, both men and women, to refute this statement. The writer was engaged in the transportation of passengers and freight between the Columbia River and Boise Basin from the Spring of 1863 to July 1870, spending a portion of my^ime every month in Boise Basin. My business necessarily brought me in contact with men and women of all classes and professions, and I can truthfully say that I never had business dealings with, or met more honest, upright men and women than in the early sixties in Idaho. I do not mean by this that there were no bad men in Idaho. There were a few, as there are in all communities, but they were the exception. The courts and officers enforced the law strictly. It may be in- teresting to the reader to know something of the number of law- breakers who were sent to the Territorial prison in 1864 and 1865. Under a law passed at the Second session, 1864, the Territorial Treasurer was made prison commissioner with power to audit the accounts of the prison keeper. In his report to the legislative as- sembly, under date of December, 1865, he reports for the year 1864 three prisoners one confined for 267 days; one for 160 days; and one for 113 days. From January 1st, 1865, he reports four prisoners. From July, 1865, to December 5th, 1865, the date of the prison commissioner's report, the prisoners confined in the Ter- ritorial prison averaged ten. There must have been in Idaho at that time not less than twenty-five thousand people, mostly grown men and women. The reader may say that our laws were not enforced, but I desire to state that they were strictly enforced. The people in Idaho were, as a rule, honest, upright, intelligent citizens, kind and gen- erous to a fault. No appeal for aid to any one in distress was ever unanswered. The pioneers of Idaho were unquestionably a noble class of men and women, and well deserve credit for redeem- ing this fair "Gem of the Mountains" from a land of savages and a barren waste to a land of beauty, peace and plenty. Hto-9 CHAPTER XXVII. THE FOURTH SESSION OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE TERRI- TORY OF IDAHO, CONVENED AT BOISE CITY, DECEMBER 3, 1866, ADJOURNED JANUARY 11, 1867. Names of members of Council: H. C. Riggs Ada County S. P. Scaniker Boise Coutny H. C. Street Boise County George Ainslie Boise County E. A. Steveson Ada County S. S. Fenn Idaho County L. P. Brown Nez Perce County M. A. Carter Oneida County R- T. Miller Owyhee County W. H. Hudson Shoshone County President, George Ainslie. Names of members of the House of Representatives: G. W. Paul Ada County John Cozad Ada County A. W. Flournoy Ada County B. J. Nordyke Alturas County Nelson Davis Alturas County F. W. Bell Boise County J. W. Knight Boise County George Stafford Boise County J. A. Abbott . .Boise County W. L. Law Boise County A. P. Mitchell Boise County W. H. Parkinson Boise County A. McDonnel Idaho County J. C. Harris Idaho County J. S. Taylor Nez Perce County W. W. Thayer Nez Perce County Henry Ohle Oneida County D. G. Monroe Owyhee County H. T. Caton Owyhee County A Englis Owyhee County W. F. McMillen Shoshone County Speaker, A. W. Flournoy. FOURTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 131 This legislature made a number of important amendments to the revenue law and had the whole revenue law revised and put to- gether as it had been amended and published with the other laws. This was of great benefit to the people as the revenue law had been amended at each session of the legislature ever since the first ses- sion, and not properly arranged, so it was difficult for the average layman to understand just what law was in force. On April 10th, 1866, D. W. Ballard, of Oregon, was appointed Governor of Idaho. We have his first message to the legislature of December 3rd, 1866, from which we take the following extracts, which we think were fairly good at that time: "To the greater portion of the population of our Territory, the year now closing has been a year of prosperity. Many who began the year with perplexing doubts and misgivings as to the future of the country, have had those doubts and anxieties happily removed, and the success of the past leads them to hope and trust for the future. "For the first two years after the settlement of our Territory, Idaho was looked upon only as a theatre for speculation, and as a place for temporary residence, where, by enduring the necessary toil and privations, rapid fortunes might be acquired. The Terri- tory was first peopled by those whose object was the acquirement of a speedy fortune, and this being done, to return either to the Pa- cific or Atlantic States; but this feeling is rapidly subsiding and the abundant success attending both mining and agricultural pur- suits during the past year is fast removing the prejudices that have formerly existed against Idaho as being a desirable location for permanent residence. "The output of gold and silver from our mines has been greater the past year than for any previous year. All of the quartz ledges that have been opened up and worked have yielded well. "Agricultural pursuits, for the first two years almost totally neglected, have been prosecuted during the past year with the most gratifying results. Many hundred acres in the Boise and other val- leys have been brought under cultivation, and it is cheering to learn that the yield per acre of both cereals and vegetables will compare favorably with the yield of any other locality on the Pacific coast. "With regard to legislation to be done at the present session, I have but few recommendations to make. Indeed it seems to me that no great amount of legislation is at present required. It is thought that familiarity with the existing statutes is of greater con- sequence to the people than increased legislation. While it is im- portant that needed changes in the laws should from time to time 132 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO be made, and necessary new ones enacted, it is equally important that the statutes should remain free from complications by amend- ment, at least long enough for the people to become familiar with them and their practical workings. "Since the adjournment of the last legislature, the laws enacted at that and the preceding session, have been printed, in separate volumes, each of which has been appropriately and conveniently in- dexed. The publishing work has been well executed in good type and on good paper, with substantial binding, but for want of funds to pay for the work, the books still remain in the hands of the pub- lisher at San Francisco. The embarrassment under which you must necessarily labor in not having these laws placed before you, is fully appreciated, as without them it is impossible that your pres- ent legislation can be performed understandingly or with as much satisfaction, either to yourselves or to your constituents, as could be done, could access be had to these bound volumes. In fact, the stat- utes of the Territory are in a very unsatisfactory condition. "The First legislature which assembled at Lewiston in 1863, en- acted a code, but as the duration of their session was limited, it was necessarily passed in much haste, and with much less consideration than its importance demanded. The code then enacted was not printed until after the sitting of the next legislature, and many of the amendments have never been published in any form whatever, and, indeed, each succeeding legislature has labored under the mis- fortune of endeavoring to amend the legislation of its predecessor with no authentic knowledge on the subject matter. The result is that our laws are inharmonious and abound in perplexing discrepan- cies. It is believed that the best method to secure a perfect code of laws and remedying the existing evils, is by the appointment of a commission to codify and revise the whole body of our statutes. The present uncertainty can thus be remedied by a system which, though it may take some time and incur some expense, will, when complete, supersede for years the necessity of further amendments and ad- ditional legislation. "The financial affairs are far from being in a satisfactory con- dition, as may be seen by an examination of the reports of the Ter- ritorial Treasurer and Comptroller. The remedy suggested is in the most rigid economy and a thorough and stringent revenue law. No one should desire to be permitted to live in a country where he can claim the protection and benefit of its laws, and at the same time refuse to be laid under contribution to sustain that country and support its laws. Since all good citizens willingly pay their taxes, it is but justice to them that all should be made to assist in the bur- den of taxataion. Could all the taxes due from citizens have been FOURTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 133 promptly collected and paid into the treasury, even at existing rates, doubtless our revenue would have been quite sufficient for all ex- penditures of the Territory. "Congress has only appropriated twenty thousand dollars to pay all expenses of each session of our legislature, including printing, laws, etc. I need scarcely call your attention to the fact that this appropriation is by far too small for the objects specified. I would recommend that a memorial be addressed to Congress on this sub- ject." It appears that Congress had not at any time appropriated suf- ficient money to pay all the expenses of the legislature, including the printing of the laws and journals, and the printing establishment at San Francisco that printed them held them in order to secure their pay for printing, which worked a great hardship. After much searching, we have found copies of the reports of the Territorial Comptroller, Treasurer and Superintendent of Public Schools, from which we give some extracts. These reports are made to the Governor and the legislative assembly, December 1, 1866, and purport to show the receipts and expenditures for the past year, present indebtedness, amount of assessable property, etc. From the comptroller's report, covering transactions of his office from December 4, 1865, to December 1, 1866, we take the follow- ing: Total valuation of all assessable property in the territory for the year 1866, as reported, $4,158,157.88. The tax levy for Territorial purposes for the year 1866 was 70c on each one hundred dollars of assessable property. This should, if all collected, have brought in a revenue of $29,107.10, less amount for assessing, collecting, paying over, etc., which was about one-third of the whole amount. The comptroller's report shows that the whole amount paid into the Treasury, including delinquent taxes for 1864 and 1865, and on property tax and licenses and poll tax for 1866, in the aggregate, amounted to $33,511.86. He reports a balance due from the dif- ferent counties of $1,400.11, and a balance due of $8,745.75 from retired county treasurers, most of whom were retired treasurers of Boise County. Whole amount of warrants drawn from December 4, 1865, to De- cember 1, 1866, $43,081.13; of this amount, $15,714.60 was for in- creased pay of members and attaches of the legislature, including the extra pay of members and attaches of the legislature, including the extra pay of the Governor, Secretary and Judges; nine relief bills, amounting to $5,100.00. We will not say that these relief bills were not right, but we do think that the $15,714.69 extra pay given to men that were paid by the United States Government, was 134 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO unnecessary. While it gave to a few more money to spend, it made it oppressive on the few taxpayers. The comptroller's statement shows the Territorial indebtedness to December 1, 1866, including bonded, outstanding warrants, in- terest and unsettled accounts to date, amounted to $95,046.99, with cash in the treasury, $7,089-91, leaving the debt, less cash on hand Dec. 1st, $87,957.08. The comptroller gives the vote cast for dele- gate to Congress in 1864, 8,689; and in 1866, 6,634. Estimated number of white population in 1866, 17,000; Chinamen, 1,000; num- ber of taxpayers, 3,480. Population decreased owing to the fact that many of the placer mining claims had been worked pretty well out and many of the miners sold their claims to Chinamen and left for their old homes, taking with them all their net earnings. The Treasurer's report seems to correpspond with the comptrol- ler's. It is unnecessary to make extracts from it. I am tired wrest- ling with these reports, for they are not very intelligible, to say the least. The report of the prison commissioner shows an average of about seven and a half prisoners were kept in prison during the eleven months, up to December 1, 1866, at a cost of $12,624.32. This was rather expensive. The above item included $348 for bringing in prisoners and commissioner's mileage and fees visiting the prison. The report of the Superintendent of Schools shows as follows: MONEY EXPENDED COUNTY. NO. SCHOOLS. NO. CHILDREN. BY COUNTY. Ada 7 328 $2,264.50 Boise 4 292 2,221.14 Owyhee 1 97 1,199-55 Nez Perce 2 75 1,000.00 Total 14 792 $6,685.19 Idaho, Shoshone, Alturas and Oneida counties not reported. We cannot brag on this showing. At the Fourth session the Territorial tax was increased from seventy cents on each one hundred dollars, to one hundred cents, for Territorial purposes, and some increase was made in county taxes for school purposes. At the Fourth session an act was passed dispensing with the services of the Superintendent of Schools and making the Comp- troller ex-officio Superintendent of Public Schools. The mem- bers of the Fourth session of the Territorial legislature did not seem to get along well with the Territorial Secretary, who was paymaster for the members. Some of the members were rather FOURTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 135 high tempered and fractious, while Secretary S. R. Hewlett might be put down as a would-be aristocratic, cranky, old granny. He seemed to think things must go or come his way. Most of the members viewed things differently from what he did, and they had friction all through the session. But it is past and many of the participants have passed away, and we will not undertake to tell of any of the unpleasant things that transpired during that memorable session. Doubtless each and all of them thought they were doing their duty, as they saw it through the dim mist of the future. CHAPTER XXVIII. SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO. Until 1866, but little in the way of permanent settlements and improvements had been made in Southeastern Idaho. Rich placer mines had been discovered in the country around and where Helena now stands in Montana, a distance from Salt Lake City, Utah, of some 450 miles. In the Spring of 1864, the great Over- land stage man, Ben Holliday, secured a contract for carrying the United States mails between Salt Lake City and Helena, Montana. Mr. Holliday had the road stocked and commenced running stages July 1st, 1864. This route passed through Southeastern Idaho, along the Port Neuf River, near the present Indian agency, and crossed the Snake River at a ferry a few miles above what is now the town of Idaho Falls, on Snake River, running north near what is now Market Lake and Beaver Canyon in Idaho before it reached the Montana line, so that one-half or more of this road was in Southeastern Idaho. Reports of the rich gold mines in Montana not only attracted the attention of mining men in California, Nevada and Utah, who came and traveled over this route, but also many emigrants who came from east of the Missouri River across the plains with their teams. The majority of these emigrants traveled over this road in order to reach the rich gold fields of Montana. The southeastern portion of Idaho over which this road and travel passed had but very few settlers. The few who were there were either employees of the stage company or engaged in cutting and putting up hay to sell to the company and other travelers. There were a few stations on the road for the benefit of the stage company and local travelers. The ferry across Snake River above Idaho Falls was the most noted place on the route. The owners did a large business which must have been very remunerative. No permanent improvements were made in the way of agriculture for several years; in fact the people did not think the land along this road was of any value for agriculture, and there were too many Indians in the country for any person to undertake to raise stock for fear of having them stolen by the Indians, from whom they had little or no protection. In 1865, J. M. Taylor and Robert Anderson bought the ferry situated a few miles above what is now the town of Idaho Falls. They built a fine bridge across the Snake River at Idaho Falls, SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO 187 and moved there in the winter of 1865 and 1866. The construc- tion of this bridge by these two energetic men was of great con- venience to the stage company and to the traveling public gen- erally. In the year 1866, a deal was made between the Ben Holliday Stage Company and Wells, Fargo & Company by which the con- trol and management of all the Holliday stage routes passed over to Wells, Fargo & Company. Soon after this the line from Salt Lake City to Montana was fitted up with improved facilities for the car- rying of passengers, express and fast freight. They had a good business over this route during the Spring, Summer and Fall of 1866; and a few others along the route in Idaho made some money putting up hay and selling meals to travelers, but there was more money made from the receipts of the bridge across Snake River than any other business in that part of the country. The bridge did not consume but produced revenue every day. At the close of the year 1866 nothing of a permanent nature in the way of ag- riculture had been started in that part of the country excepting by a few settlers in Malad Valley, in Oneida County. CHAPTER XXIX. MINING IN 1866. Mining continued to be the principal business in Idaho. Placer mining began in Boise Basin early in the Spring of 1866, the mines generally producing well. More attention was given to pros- pecting and the locating of mineral quartz ledges. Many of these prospects were very good. One quartz mill was built and put in operation at a point four miles west of Placerville, called Quartz- burg. The mill was erected close to the mine, and both mill and mine proved to be a financial success.V The rush of people in the Spring to Boise Basin was not so great as in 1864 and 1865, for the reason that many had saved money from their mining opera- tions, sold their claims and returned to their homes to remain. Many of them had taken with them from twenty to seventy-five pounds of gold dust. More people remained through the last Winter in Boise Basin than ever before, and quite a number came down to Boise City to spend the Winter and watch the proceedings of the legislature. Most of the miners did well during the Spring and Fall of 1866. Merchants and other trading establishments could not ask such high prices as the transportation of goods had now become comparatively cheap. Many new stocks were brought in which made lively competition, and some of the merchants suffered heavy losses by fire. The year 1866 was not a prosperous year for but few merchants in Boise Basin. The placer mines, however, produced about the same amount of gold as in 1865. OWYHEE MINES. The quartz mines in Owyhee County near Ruby and Silver City, especially on what is known as War Eagle Mountain, produced well. Several quartz mills had been brought in and all seemed to do good work and turned out a large amount of what was called silver bullion, but it contained gold enough to make the value of the bullion worth from two and a half to four dollars an ounce. This bullion was usually run into large bars weighing about one hundred pounds apiece and shipped through Wells, Fargo & Com- pany's Express via Boise City, Umatilla to Portland and on to San Francisco. We hauled the most of this bullion from Boise to Uma- tilla on stages; each bar was put into a strong, leather grip which fitted snug and buckled up tight. We had to have iron bars put the full length of the coaches on the under side of the bed to save MINING IN 1866 139 these bullion bars from breaking through. We have no record of the amount hauled on the stages but it came quite often in lots of from eight hundred to sixteen hundred pounds. One time we hauled twenty-one hundred pounds of this bullion at one load, to- gether with two express messengers, two treasure boxes well filled with gold dust, one hundred and twenty-five pounds of mail and seven passengers from Boise City. This was the best paying load ever taken over the stage road and was taken through without ac- cident and on regular time. ROCKY BAR AND ATLANTA. There was considerable stir among the people about the quartz mines in and around Rocky Bar and Atlanta. A number of loca- tions were made and quite an amount of work done. Two or three small quartz mills were put up and several arastras, but we can- not say very much money was taken out. Several ledges showed ore of high garde but it was very expensive to get supplies, the roads were bad, tolls high, and the snow did not leave the camps until late in the Spring and came again early in the Fall. LEMHI COUNTY. Some prospecting was done in what is now Lemhi and Custer counties. Locations for placer mining were made on the Salmon River and its tributaries, also a few locations of quartz ledges, but no large amount of money was taken out. NORTH IDAHO. A few men still remained at the placer mining camps of Oro Fino, Pierce City and Elk City, in Shoshone County. These miners took out some placer gold and located a few quartz ledges. A few men also remained at Warrens and Florence in Idaho County. They took out some placer gold, and several quartz ledges were located around Warrens. Mining in Idaho in 1866 was generally success- ful. From what we know of the amount of money taken from the mines, and from information we consider correct, we feel safe in stating that the amount taken, as a whole, was greater than any previous year, and we estimate the mines in Idaho produced in the year 1866 about twelve million dollars. CHAPTER XXX. FARMING, STOCK RAISING AND FREIGHTING IN SOUTHERN IDAHO IN 1866. By this time quite a number of the people had made up their minds that Southern Idaho was a good place to live. A large num- ber of locations were made on agricultural land in Boise and Pay- ette valleys, also on the Weiser and other places. Several small ditches were taken out for irrigating and quite an amount of grain and vegetables raised. Hay was put up to supply the demand. Several orchards were set out and Boise and Payette valleys began to look homelike. The farmers had a hard time for some years, building houses, fencing their fields, making stables, corrals, sheds, etc., and grubbing out sage brush and plowing the land. The most of the seed for the new land was packed or hauled from Eastern Oregon, which made it very expensive. It was very expensive get- ting water and building ditches. The crops were light, and last, but not least of the annoyances to the farmers, were the grass- hoppers, which would come and sweep the fields clean after all the farmers' hard work. But the farmers persevered, and in a few years had very comfortable homes. This year freights were greatly reduced. Ox teams, mule teams and horse teams were plentiful on the road between Boise and Umatilla, so the hauling of freight was reduced in the Summer and Fall to five and six cents per pound. The supplies were likewise re- duced in price. A few cattle and horses were raised and every- thing seemed to go along nicely in Southern Idaho. LAW, ORDER AND GOOD CONDUCT OF THE PEOPLE IN 1866. The people of Southern Idaho were progressive, industrious and possessed good moral habits. Several churches were erected and services were well attended. Almost every one seemed to be inter- ested in securing good schools for the children. The laws, both civil and criminal, were good for the preservation of life and property, giving justice to all. The executive offices and courts were filled with honorable, competent men, who enforced the laws strictly. Our young Territory was fortunate in having but few drones, vagabonds, tramps or professional grafters, the population consisting mostly of energetic, enterprising people, who had come from different States in the Union. At that time it was not only an expensive trip to come to Idaho but it was, also, a danger- STOCK RAISING IN 1866 141 ous journey as the Indians were constantly on the warpath. So few people tried to come who were not energetic and enterprising. The people of 1866 seemed to settle down and be more contented than during previous years. In fact, before this few had thought of remaining permanently in Idaho. Nearly all business had been connected directly or indirectly with mining, and the majority of people had thought only of making money and then returning to their old homes, wherever they might be. Many who were fortunate did return, but others found it im- possible to arrange business matters so they could go and stayed on year after year until at last Idaho became home. They realized, after a few years, that the climate of Idaho could not be surpassed and that it was one of the choice spots made by the Supreme Being why should they not stay? CHAPTER XXXI. PROGRESS AND DOINGS OP THE PEOPLE OF IDAHO TERRITORY IN A GENERAL WAY IN THE YEARS 1867'! 870 INCLUSIVE. During these four years in Idaho,, no very great amount of new developments were made. The population decreased considerable owing mainly to the working out of many of the rich placer mines in Boise Basin. The reader must bear in mind, mining for any kind of mineral differs from agricultural pursuits not only in the kind of labor and machinery used, but every ton of placer ground well worked is gone forever, so far as getting any more gold from it is concerned. The same with gold or silver quartz; neither placer ground nor quartz reproduces after having had the precious metals once ex- tracted; not so with agricultural lands, which, with proper care and good cultivation, reproduce each year so far as the memory of man runneth. The number of men engaged in placer mining in these years gradually decreased in most all of the placer min- ing camps in Idaho. A few new discoveries of placer ground were made, which at- tracted some attention, on what is known as Loon Creek and other streams in Lemhi County; but none of them proved to be very rich or extensive, and but few men remained in these new camps. A few of the mining men turned their attention to prospecting for gold and silver-bearing quartz ledges, and quite a large num- ber of locations were made in the different counties, which included Boise, Owyhee, Alturas and Lemhi counties. Many of them had considerable development work done on them, but few of them, except in Owyhee County, had machinery put on them for work- ing the ore, so the quartz mining industry in Idaho for these four years did not amount to much except in Owyhee County, where several quartz mills were in operation and the returns from the ore worked were very good, in fact some of the ore was very rich. Farming, upon the whole, increased considerable in the Territory in these four years. Some new locations were made in each county, and quite an amount of new improvement made by the farmers in the way of digging irrigating ditches, making fences, clearing up and cultivating new land, building new houses, barns, etc. Owing to the increased amount of agricultural products raised and the decreased demand on account of loss of population in mining camps, the price of agricultural products came down so low PROGRESS MADE IN 1867-70 143 that it was very discouraging to farmers, who still had to pay high prices for their groceries and other necessary goods, including farming implements, high rate of taxes, etc. Under this state of affairs, upon the whole, the farmers could not, as a rule, be con- sidered prosperous during these four years. A few of them, who had set out fruit trees early, began to get considerable fruit which commanded a very good price. More attention was paid to the education of the children in these years than before. Quite a number of school houses were built in different parts of the Terri- tory, and public schools were maintained for several months in each year. Stock raising, cattle and horses increased to a considerable extent in these four years, and the market price for beef, horses, and mules kept up at good figures. The same old slow and expensive mode of transportation of freight and passengers by freight teams and stages still remained, though the rate on both freight and passengers was greatly re- duced from the prices charged in former years. The Union and Central Pacific Railroads having been completed and a connection of their roads in May, 1869? having been made, it enabled our merchants to ship their goods from either the East or from San Francisco to Kelton on the Central Pacific Railroad, which place was only two hundred and forty miles distant from Boise City, which was about forty miles less than Umatilla on the Columbia River, from where most all of our goods had been freighted before this change. The connecting of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, which stretched across the great American plains, set many peo- ple in Idaho almost wild to visit their old homes in the Eastern States and many of them went; and, like many who now go annu- ally from the Eastern States to Europe with well-filled purses and return a few months later minus the contents, not only decreasing their wealth but lessening the circulating medium of their country by spending and leaving large amounts so far away that it sel- dom, if ever, gets back to where it was taken from; so with many of our people in 1869 and 1870, myself not an exception. Of course, we all had a good time, but our circulating medium was so much reduced that it was painfully felt in our business. We had spent it too far away from our homes for it to get back to per- form its service in the channels of trade soon, if ever. But we all lived over it, and a few of us are still here. But few improvements were made in the different towns in Idaho during these four years. Some of the placer mining towns even went back, notably in the Boise Basin. Mining towns re- 144 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO duce or decay as the mines fail. Towns in the agricultural dis- tricts held their own, with a few improvement in some of them. Congress did, at the earnest solicitation of our delegate, Hon. E. D. Holbrook, make an appropriation to build a United States assay office and a penitentiary at or near Boise City. These build- ings were both in course of construction, and were completed in the year 1871. CHAPTER XXXII. THE FIFTH SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE TERRITORY OF IDAHO. This legislature convened at Boise City on December 7th, 1868, and adjourned January 14, 1869- The names of the members were as follows: MEMBERS OF THE COHNCIL. G. W. Paul Ada County V. S. Anderson Alturas County W. M. Vance Boise County B. G. Allen Boise County A. J. Boomer Boise County C. C. Dudley Boise County S. P. C. Howard Idaho County J. S. Taylor Nez Perce County F. E. Ensign Owyhee County J. M. Taylor Oneida County B. F. Yantes Shoshone County . President, J. S. Taylor. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Thos. H. Gallaway Ada County J. B. Wright Ada County Thos. B. Hart Ada County Meredith Kelly Alturas County Louis Linbeck Alturas County W. S. Harley Boise County U. Marx Boise County Thos. Fay Boise County S. T. Hussman Boise County D. M. McGrew Boise County D. B. Moody Boise County S. Goodnaugh Boise County Hayden Bailey Boise County E. T. Beatty Idaho County E. Mulkey Idaho County G. W. Bell Nez Perce County V. S. Zeigle Nez Perce County Patrick Campbell Owyhee County Seth Catlin Owyhee County Hk-10 146 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO P. S. Quinn Owyhee County F. M. Shoemaker Oneida County W. A. Goulder Shoshone County Speaker, E. T. Beatty. It will be observed that it has been two years since the meeting of the Fourth or last session of the Territorial legislature. No doubt but the people felt grateful to the Congress of the United States for the change made in the law, from annual to bi-annual elections and meetings of the legislature, for several reasons. First: It stopped much expense and annoyance holding annual elections. Second: It gave the people time to find out and test the laws already enacted. Third: It at least stopped the extra pay given to members and attaches for one year out of every two, which was a saving of about fourteen thousand dollars to the tax- payers every other year. The Comptroller's report, dated December 1, 1868, shows: Jan. 1, 1868, balance in the treasury $ 6,053.50 Dec. 1, 1868, receipts for past three quarters 37,579-38 Making total receipts $ 43,632.88 Dec. 1, 1868, disbursements of Treasurer $ 35,454.94 Balance left in treasury $ 8,177.94 Dec. 1, 1868, total indebtedness to this date, including outstanding bonds, warrants, and interest $113,102.18 Less cash in the treasury 8,177-94 Dec. 1, 1868, debt, less amount in treasury $104,924.24 Unpaid taxes for 1868 were $25,000; valuation of all assessa- ble property for the year 1868, as shown by reports, was $4,621,- 980.49; Territorial tax was one per cent. Official vote for delegate to Congress in 1866 6.564 Official vote for delegate to Congress in 1868 5,634 Decrease in two years 930 Estimated number of white population 25,000 Estimated number of Chinamen 1,500 It would seem that after waiting two years, the people concluded that they did not want so much legislation as had been given them annually heretofore, so they elected a new set of men all around to legislate for them this time, save and except one member of the House of the Fourth session, who was sent to the Council of the Fifth session. FIFTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 147 The members of this Fifth session did not prove to be such ex- perts at making laws as some of their annual predecessors had been. They succeeded, however, in enacting laws and resolutions enough to cover one hundred and sixty-two pages. Some of them were good, wholesome laws, and others were not so good. They did not fail to draw the extra pay from the Territorial treasury, which for members and attaches amounted to thirteen thousand nineteen dollars and twenty-five cents ($13,019-25) ; and, for other incidental expenses, one thousand four hundred two dol- lars and sixteen cents ($1,402.16), making a total of $14,421.41. This was all extra over and above what the United States Govern- ment paid them. The amount paid them by the United States Gov- ernment was supposed to be in full for all services rendered by them, but they seemed to think their services were worth more money. The act making this appropriation for extra pay to members and attaches of the legislature was passed at the First session of the Territorial legislature, and approved January 13, 1864 (see pages 527 and 528, First Territorial Session Laws). At the time this act was passed, it included extra pay for the Governor and the three Judges at the rate of $2,500 per annum each, and the Territorial Secretary an extra $1,500 per annum all to come out of the Ter- ritorial treasury. At the Third session, so much of the act of Jan- uary 13, 1864, was repealed as applied to giving extra compensa- tion to the three Judges, the Governor, and the Secretary approved January 9, 1866 (see page 106, Third Session Laws). But on January 12, 1866, an act was approved restoring the extra pay of the Governor and the Secretary (see page 145, Third Session Laws). At the Fourth session, an act was passed cutting the extra pay of the Governor and the Secretary off. Now comes the Fifth session and passed an act restoring the ex- tra pay of $2,500 each to the three Judges and to the Governor, and giving the Secretary $1,000 extra annually, and made this extra pay to commence on December 7, 1868, while the act was not ap- proved until January 14, 1869- This legislation took eleven thou- sand dollars annually from the Territorial treasury, and adding to this the extra pay of the members, attaches and incidentals, which made a total of $14,421.41, we have the sum of $25,421.41 legis- lated out of the Territorial Treasury for one year to pay officials and a few incidentals, for which the United States Government was paying a compensation fixed by the laws of Congress, and all of this to come from a few taxpayers whose property was assessed at a valuation of less than five million dollars for the year 1868, as 148 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO shown by the comptroller's report on page 11. The whole amount was $4,621,980.49. This Fifth session passed a new revenue act repealing all former revenue acts. This is quite a lengthy act covering about fifty pages, in which provisions are made for taxing most all kinds of property and businesses that are carried on in the country. Upon the whole, it was an improvement on our former revenue laws. They reduced the levy for Territorial purposes from ten to eight mills on the dollar. Among the several acts passed at this session was an act appro- priating twenty-five hundred dollars for Charles Ostner, in consid- eration of his having presented, as a gift to the people of Idaho Territory, an equestrian statue of George Washington carved out of Idaho wood, by the said Ostner, at the expense of many months of hard labor. They also passed an act appropriating nineteen hundred four dollars and thirty-seven cents to pay S. R. Howlett for the care and removal of the Territorial records from Lewiston to Boise City in 1865 and for his services in taking care of them seven months. They appropriated money to pay for the publishing of the laws passed at this session; passed several acts for the relief of individ- uals, which did not relieve the people; passed an act creating the county of Lemhi, and locating the county seat at Salmon City. This act also appointed George L. Shoup, Benjamin S. Heath and E. H. Tuttle a board of county commissioners. It provided that Lemhi County should pay to Idaho County $700.00 as her share of the indebtedness of Idaho County. This act was approved January 15, 1869 (see pages 119 and 120, Fifth Session Laws). While this legislature made a few good laws, it is a question whether the good legislation they enacted was a fair compensation for the increased debt they placed on the few struggling taxpayers. While the members of this Fifth session were most all new mem- bers, they did not fail to look out for themselves; and, also, for the financial well-being of other Territorial and county officers, with but little apparent regard for those who had to pay the bills. CHAPTER XXXIII. CLASSIFICATION OF LAND IN IDAHO CREATION OF COUNTIES GEN- ERAL REVIEW OF MEN AND COUNTIES FROM 1863 TO 1870. To attempt to give a correct classification of the different kinds of land in Idaho would be a very difficult task, but it may be put down as approximately correct, as follows: Area 84,600 square miles, equal to 54,144,000 acres, classified as follows : ACRES. Agricultural, reclaimed and susceptible of reclamation . . 1 8,000,000 Low mountain, hills, and grazing land 15,000,000 Mountain, timber and mineral land 18,000,000 Lakes, lava and rivers 3,144,000 Total 54,144,000 Prior to the passage of the act of Congress creating Idaho Terri- tory, on March 3rd, 1863, the legislature of Washington Territory had created four counties situated in a portion of the territory in- cluded in Idaho, namely, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Idaho and Boise counties. The three last named had been organized and had their respective county governments in operation with a full corps of county officers. In order to make the boundary lines of these coun- ties more definite, the Idaho legislature at its First session passed acts creating three more new counties in addition to the four named above; also defined the boundary lines of the first four. These last three created were Owyhee, Alturas and Oneida counties. These seven counties included all of the territory that Idaho had when she became a State, but some of them were cut up and made into more counties before statehood. Shoshone County, situated in the northern portion of the Terri- tory, was the county in which the placer gold mines were discov- ered on the tributaries of the Clearwater River, in the southern por- tion of the county in I860, by Captain Pierce. Placer gold was dis- covered at three different places, and mining camps were established at each place; namely, Pierce City, Orofino and Elk City. The mines in these camps do not appear to have been extensive, only af- fording employment for a few hundred men and not extra rich. Among some of the early settlers in these mining camps were Captain Pierce the discoverer, Hon. Standford Capps, Hon. James 150 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO A. Orr, Hon. W. A. Goulder, Hon. W. H. Hudson, Hon. W. F. McMillan. These last five named, we assume, were prominent men in the development of that county, as their names appear on the legislative rolls in the early sessions of the legislatures from that county. Shoshone County being a mountainous county with but little ag- ricultural land, little was done in the way of agriculture. A large area of land in this county was well covered with fine pine timber. Soon after the placer mines began to fail to produce well in the three small camps mentioned herein, the people nearly all left the county, leaving only a few hundred to keep up and maintain a county government. The valuation of assessable property in this county for several years was less than one hundred thousand dol- lars, and the number of voters less than two hundred. The people of this county had a hard struggle until 1882, when the richest lead and silver-bearing quartz mines in the United States were discovered in the northern part of the county; and soon after this, the people began to discover the great wealth that lay in the fine belts of timber in that county; and now Shoshone County can truly say that she ships more mineral and timber wealth annually than any other two or three counties in Idaho. Verily, the old adage that the "last shall be first" has come true in the case of Shoshone County. The county seat of this county is now located at Wallace, a nice town situated in the center of the mining dis- trict, and is surrounded by large bodies of fine timber nearby with good railroad facilities. NEZ PERCE COUNTY. When this county was reorganized, her boundary lines were de- fined by an act of the Legislature of Idaho, approved February 4th, 1864, and her boundary lines have been changed some since. But that large piece of territory that lay north and west of Nez Perce County, having but few settlers, was, by act of December 22nd, 1864, created as Latah and Kootenai counties but not organized, and attached to Nez Perce for judicial purposes to await the action of the people. Since that time, these counties of Latah and Kootenai have been organized under the act of December 22nd, 1864, of which we will speak later on. Lewiston, which is situated at the junction of the Clearwater River and the Snake River, was made the county seat of Nez Perce County, and is at the head of navigation for steamboats on the Snake River. Lewiston, being at the head of navigation, was the distributing depot for all of Northern Idaho for many years, which made it a very important place. CREATION OF COUNTIES, 1863-70 161 The Nez Perce Indian Reservation was located in 1855, and is situated within the boundary lines of Nez Perce County. The old Spalding Mission at Lapwai, located in 1836, is situated within the boundary lines of this county. An Indian agency was established at this place in I860, and a military post, in 1861, which has since been abandoned by the United States Government. Lewiston has been, and still is, a very important place for the distribution of goods for the interior towns and for the shipment of agricultural products to the seaboard. Lewiston held the capital for two years by virtue of the Governor designating that place for the legislature to meet, the Organic Act of Congress having failed to locate the capital. In 1862, before Idaho was organized, Lewiston shipped out by pack trains most all the supplies that came with the great rush of people, who went to what was called the Salmon River (Florence) and other smaller mining camps. The buildings at Lewiston consisted mostly of large tents; and the streets were paved with a deep layer of loose sand, which would mingle freely with the frequent lively chinook winds that came up the river with such force that both men and pack mules would have to hunt some kind of a wind-break or else take a serious risk of having their eyesight cut out by the sharp sand. This is no dream. I was there and have had experience in these gentle wind and sand gales; but, long ago, the good enterprising people of that place either subdued or had this sand blown away, and have built a fine town with good streets. Nez Perce County may be put down as a fine agricultural, horti- cultural and stock raising country, with a good healthy climate, and settled by an intelligent and thrifty people. The valuation of her assessable property in 1870 was $423,531.25; and the number of votes cast in 1870 for the delegate to Congress was 316. The reader must remember that before the year 1870, the best of the placer mines in Idaho had been worked out, and about two-thirds of her early population had left. Among some of the early settlers of Nez Perce County were Wil- liam Craig, John Silcott, L. Bacon, George Zeigle, Hill Beachy, Thomas Beall, and many others. Rev. Mr. Spalding was first to locate and settle at Lapwai Mission in 1836; but, on account of In- dian hostilities, left in 1847. Below we give Mr. Thomas Beall's account of the arrival of the first steamer: "In regard to the first steamer to reach Lewiston, it was the Colonel Wright and not the Okanogan. The latter boat did not ascend the Snake River till 1862. "The Colonel Wright was the first steamer built above The Dalles, 152 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO and on the evening of the third day of May, 1861, entered the mouth of the Clearwater and proceeded as far as the Nez Perce agency at the mouth of the Lapwai, where she tied up for the night. The next day, May 4, Mr. A. J. Cain, the agent, John Silcott, myself and several others went aboard and started up the river. Our late townsman, S. S. Slater, was one of the passengers, and had a quantity of goods aboard for the mines. We found the rapids so strong above the Big Eddy that we had to put out a cable and it parted and we drifted down into the eddy. "Captain Len White was in command of the steamer, and our veteran steamboat captain, E. W. Baughman, was mate. Captain White concluded to go back, so we went down to the mouth of Bed- rock Creek and discharged the freight, which consisted of Slater's goods. Our late townsman, Lot Wiggin, was with Slater as clerk. There was no town started until the Wright's second trip. This is a matter of history and we want it correct. Yours, "THOMAS BEALL." IDAHO COUNTY. This county was created by the Washington Territory legislature and re-bounded by the First Idaho legislature. It lays south of Nez Perce and Shoshone counties and extends south to the divide between the waters of the Weiser River on the south, and the waters of the Salmon River on the north, and extended east to the line di- viding Idaho and Montana. A few years later, the county of Lemhi was created out of the eastern portion of Idaho County. The Salmon River or Florence mines are situated in the south- western portion of this county a few miles north of the Salmon River in a basin in the high mountains. Placer gold was found in large quantities in a few claims, but the best paying claims were worked out in the year 1862. Warrens mining camp was discovered south of Salmon River that Summer in Idaho County, but was neither extensive or very rich. What is called Big Camas Prairie, in the north, is situated in Idaho County, and is among one of the richest bodies of agricultural land in the West. In packing sup- plies from Lewiston to the Salmon or Florence mines in 1862, we had to cross this fine large prairie, which was unsettled at that time. It was covered with a luxuriant growth of bunch grass that was beautiful to see and most excellent feed for our animals; but, when we left the prairie and started up the rough, narrow trail in the mountains, it was a little tough. Idaho County may properly be classed as a fine agricultural and stock raising county with a large amount of good timber and a great many large low-grade gold-bearing quartz ledges. CREATION OF COUNTIES, 1863-70 153 Among the earliest settlers was the late Hon. L. P. Brown, who settled in 1862 at the place he called Mt. Idaho at the base of the mountain where the Mose Milner trail started up the mountain for the Florence mines. Mr. Brown succeeded in getting the county seat located at his Mt. Idaho town. He built a large hotel there. He kept a good house, and always gave the traveler value received for his money. Mt. Idaho, being away from the center of popula- tion, after many years the county seat was moved to Grangeville, near the center of population. The late Hon. S. S. Fenn was an- other one of the early settlers of Idaho County. These two old pioneers, Messrs. Brown and Fenn, were good, upright and intel- ligent men, who always performed their duty promptly as good citizens, and as worthy officials when holding office. The late Ben Morris and Alonzo Lealand took active parts in Idaho County in its early settlement, as did Captain Ralph Bledsoe and Chris Hig- bee, and all of them performed their parts well. The valuation of assessable property in Idaho County, in the year 1870, was $159,168.75, and the number of votes cast in 1870, was 373. BOISE COUNTY. This county was created by act of the Washington legislature at their session held in the Winter of 1862 and 1863. At the First session of the Idaho legislature, an act was passed defining the boundaries of this county, approved February 4th, 1864. This county lies south of Idaho County. Its boundary line extended as far east as the junction of the Bruneau River with the Snake River, and followed down the Snake River to the southwest line of Idaho County. Its boundary lines included, at that time, all of what is now Boise, Ada, Washington and Canyon counties. Boise County, as it is now constituted, contains all of what is commonly called the Boise Basin, where very rich placer gold mines were discovered in the summer of 1862. These mines created a great excitement all over the Pacific coast. In the Spring of 1863 there was about 20,000 people came to this mining camp, which covered a considerable area of land, which was about fifteen miles square. Mining was the principal business in this county for about seven years. By the year 1870, many of the best mines were pretty well worked out and the people began to leave the mines. Some settled in the small valleys in the county and engaged in farming and stock raising, while many others returned to their old homes in different states. Boise County may be put down as having a large amount of min- eral land, both placer and gold-bearing quartz; a large quantity of 154 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO good timber; a large area of good grazing land, and a considerable amount of good agricultural land. In the sixties, Boise County had a much larger population than any county in the Territory. Several flourishing towns were built up during the Fall of 1863 and the Spring and Summer of 1864 in the Boise Basin mining district, among which were Idaho City, Centerville, Pioneer City and Placerville. Each of these towns was surrounded by rich placer mines, and none of them more than four- teen miles apart. Idaho City was the largest and had a population of at least five thousand with many business houses with large stocks of goods. From some unknown cause, fire broke out in Idaho City on May 8th, 1865, and consumed most all of the business portion of the town, burning all goods and supplies on hand by the merchants, except what some of them had in fire-proof cellars. The loss from this fire was estimated to be near one million dollars with but little in- surance. This was a heavy loss to many, and a set-back to the busi- ness of the country generally. But as fast as lumber and other ma- terial could be procured, nearly all who had lost their buildings, rebuilt on a larger and more expensive scale. Not long after the town had been well built up and the people had begun to recover pretty well from their losses from the fire in 1865, another fire broke out in July, 1867, and consumed most of the town, goods, supplies, etc., except what was stored in fire-proof cellars. This was a much harder blow on the business men than the fire of 1865. The loss was about the same, but, by this time, many of the rich mines had been pretty well worked out, and the pros- pect for good business in the future did not look good enough to induce many to rebuild. However, there were a few more substan- tial business houses built of brick, which are still occupied. After the fire of 1867, many of the merchants and other business men left Idaho City. A few of them located in Boise City and the remainder scattered over the country. There were too many prominent men in Boise County in the early days for us to undertake to give their names. The county seat was located at Idaho City. The valuation of assessable property in Boise County in 1870 was $1,076,595.08 ; and the votes of the county for the same year were 1,557- OWYHEE COUNTY. This county was created by act of the First legislature of Idaho, approved February 4th, 1864. This county covered all the territory south of Snake River to the Oregon and Nevada lines, and east to the Goose Creek range of mountains. CREATION OF COUNTIES, 1868-70 155 In 1863, a limited amount of gold placer mines were discovered on Jordan Creek, which paid well with working, but were pretty well worked out in two years. The gold here contained a large per- centage of silver which reduced its value to about eleven dollars per ounce. During the Fall of 1863 and Summer of 1864, some very rich gold and silver quartz discoveries were made on a mountain called War Eagle near where the placer mines were located. Several quartz mills were erected in 1865 and 1866 to work the ore from these quartz ledges, some of which proved to be very rich in silver and gold. From these quartz mines, large quantities of bullion were produced for several years, and a number of them are still pro- ducing well up to this time, 1907. Owyhee County is noted for her rich quartz mines; her large amount of good grazing lands; and for a limited amount of very excellent agricultural lands. The county seat is at Silver City near the mining camps. The value of assessable property in the year 1870 was $588,881.50; from some unknown cause, this is less than half what it had been reported in former years. We take our figures from the comp- troller's report, but we think there must have been a mistake in his report. The vote cast in that county in 1870 was 575. ALTURAS COUNTY. This county was created at the First session of the Territorial legislature, the act being approved February 4th, 1864. Alturas County lies east and south of Boise County, taking in the country north of Snake River from the Bruneau River to Lost River, and as far north as the Sawtooth range of mountains, following said range of mountains to the eastern boundary line of Boise County. While this county was very large in area, only a small portion of it attracted people to settle there for several reasons: First, a large portion was mountainous; second, there was a considerable amount of lava country, and most of the agricultural lands was arid and required artificial irrigation to produce crops ; and last, but not least, there were roving bands of Indians in this county for many years, who were very annoying to the few settlers there. Some gold quartz ledges were discovered in the mountainous part of this county near the headwaters of Boise River in the years 1863 and 1864. Two small mining towns were built Rocky Bar and Atlanta where a few hundred men located for mining and trading purposes. There was a great deal of development work done on the ledges in these camps, and a few quartz mills and sev- eral arrastres were erected. Quite a quantity of ore, which was worked, paid fairly well, but, owing to the deep snows, long Win- 156 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO ters and expensive transportation, these mining camps could not offer sufficient inducements to capitalists to come in and put up proper machinery to work them, only on a very limited scale. In later years, this county came to the front in agriculture, stock raising, mining, etc., of which we will speak later on. Alturas County, as first created, may be put down as having a large amount of mineral, timber and fine grazing land; a large amount of good agricultural land, when irrigated; and some worthless lava land, so far as man knows at this time. The county seat was located at Rocky Bar. The assessable property in 1870 was $159,387.97; and the votes cast in 1870 were 248. ONEIDA COUNTY. This county was created at the First session of the Idaho legis- lature, the act being approved January 22nd, 1864. Oneida seemed to cover all of what is commonly called Southeastern Idaho, in fact it covered some that was given to Wyoming in 1868. This was a very large county bounded on the west by Alturas and Owyhee counties, on the south by Utah, on the east by the Rocky range, on the north by the jog in the Idaho line. This county has been divided up several times in late years; but as first created in its wild virgin state, it was not at all inviting to the emigrant, homesteader, capitalist or prospector. It consisted of one vast plain of sagebrush land with a few hills and mountains with timber and numerous small streams and fertile bottom lands, with the great Snake River coming from the east flowing west across the county, and with many wild Indians roving at will over the county. No mines having been discovered in this county in the early days, so but few people were attracted to this county for some years. Finally, the settlers along the northern boundary of Utah began to spread over onto the southern boundary of Oneida County, but it was several years before many people went to that county. A large Indian reservation was established for the Bannock Indians within the boundary lines of this county in 1866. This tended to retard the settlement and improvement of this county for several years. The county seat of Oneida county was located at Soda Springs by the act creating the county. This place being far away from the center of settlement, the county seat was later on removed to Malad City in the southern portion of the county. Oneida County, as first established, may be put down as con- taining a large area of good wild agricultural land, susceptible of easy reclamation; a fine lot of good grazing land for stock; a limited amount of mountainous timber land with some little min- CREATION OF COUNTIES, 1863-70 157 eral land carrying gold in placer and quartz in small quantities. The famous soda springs, near the old emigrant road, used to at- tract the attention of all passing emigrants. They were situated in this county, as it was first constituted. The valuation of assessable property in this county, for the year 1870, was $192,234; and the number of votes cast, 207. It will be seen by this that people were slow in settling in this county ; but later on, it seemed to be very attractive to homeseekers and at this date 1907 with her several subdivisions, supports quite a large population which seems to be prosperous. We have given a brief description of the seven counties as first organized by the Idaho Territorial legislature, in January, 1864, which seven counties embraced the whole of Idaho, as now con- stituted, prior to 1870. Two more counties were created by the division of two of these original counties, of which we will now speak. ADA COUNTY. This county was created by an act of the Second session of the Territorial legislature, which was approved December 22nd, 1864. The territory included in Ada County was all taken from Boise County and covered all of what is now Ada, Washington and Can- yon counties. The two counties last named were created from por- tions of Ada at a later date than we are now writing of. The county seat of Ada County was located at Boise City by the act creating the county. At the same session of the legislature, an act was passed and approved December 7th, 1864, to permanently locate the capital of Idaho Territory at Boise, on and after December 24th, 1864. There was some dissatisfaction about the removal of the capital, which was then at Lewiston by order of the Governor, which re- sulted in some litigation, so that the archives of the capital did not arrive at Boise City until October, 1865, after which time all was quiet. It was supposed that, as soon as the capital was located at Boise City, the town would boom ahead rapidly; but, not so; most of the people who came preferred to take a chance in the mines in Boise Basin or at Silver City, and but few settled on ranches until they had tried their luck in the mining camps. Most all who did settle on farming land in this country in those days were unable to put their land in proper condition to produce good crops for several years. Everything the farmers needed was very expensive. Even their seed grain had to be brought from Oregon. None of them could 158 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO afford to hire help, but often had to leave their homes and go to some mining camp and work for wages to get money to buy pro- visions and clothing for themselves and families; so improvements in the country and in the town were slow for several years, but some progress was made each year. Range for stock was good in this county, and all who had stock did well; but most of them sold out their stock of cattle and sheep to butchers in the mining camps, got the cash and left. THE LOCATION OF THE CAPITAL CITY OF IDAHO. A United States military post had been established near where Boise City was located about July 6th, 1863, a day or two before the Capital City was laid out. Boise City was located at what might be called the junction of cross-roads of two great thoroughfares wagon and stage roads one leading from the Oregon and Washington Territory country through Boise City to Salt Lake and from there east; the other road leading from the rich Boise Basin mining district via Boise City and on to the rich mining district at Silver City in Owyhee County, thence south into Nevada, This certainly was a very favorable location, coupled with a large area of excellent agricultural land in the Boise, Payette, Weiser and Snake River valleys easy of reclamation, to say noth- ing of the hundreds of thousands of acres of sagebrush table lands that have since proved to be fine agricultural land when culti- vated and irrigated. It would seem that with all these advantages the county and city should have improved rapidly, but not so; the people were poor, county and Territorial governments were rather expensive, taxes high, and the progress was slow for a number of years. Ada County, as first created, had a large amount of good agri- cultural, horticultural and grazing lands easy of reclamation, and a small amount of mineral and timber lands. The assessable prop- erty in 1870 was $918,141.00; and the vote for delegate in 1870 was 852. Among the first settlers of Boise City and Ada County were Thomas and Frank Davis, Cyrus Jacobs, Crawford Slocum & Co., Durell & Moore, Dr. Ephriam Smith, H. C. Riggs, Jas. D. Agnew, Peter Sonna, Robert Willson, H. J. G. Maxon, Seth Bixby, A. G. Redway, and James S. Reynolds. LEMHI COUNTY. This county was created out of the southeastern portion of Idaho County by act of the Territorial legislature passed at its Fifth CREATION OF COUNTIES, 1863-70 159 session, approved January 9th, 1869- The county seat was located by the act at Salmon City, where it still remains. It is said that in the year 1854 a small colony of Mormons set- tled in the Lemhi Valley about twenty miles from where Salmon City is located. They built a small stockade or fort for protection against the Indians. It is said that they constructed a ditch for irrigating, and carried on farming to some extent for two seasons, but they were annoyed so much by the Indians, who became so hostile that it was not safe for them to remain longer, and they all left in 1857 and returned to Utah from whence they had come. So this part of the country was abandoned by the whites until the year 1866, when white men again invaded it, prospecting for placer gold mines, which they found on the Salmon River and its tributaries, also several good gold-bearing quartz ledges. Since that time, the country has been occupied by white people with but little interference from Indians. Lemhi County has a large area of mineral, grazing and moun- tainous timber lands, with a considerable amount of good agri- cultural lands in small bodies. Lemhi County is noted for having furnished the last Territorial Governor, the first State Governor, the first United States Senator elected all three in the person of the late Hon. George L. Shoup. Lemhi county's assessable property in 1870 was $81,836. Her vote for delegate in 1870 was 436. The principal business at that time was mining. This concludes a brief summary of the nine counties in exist- ence in the Territory of Idaho up to and including the year 1870, which nine counties included all the territory of Idaho. Since that time, many changes in boundary lines have been made, and the number of counties has been more than doubled by dividing up several of the large counties, all of which we will speak of later on. CHAPTER XXXIV. SIXTH SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE OP THE TERRITORY CONVENED AT BOISE CITY DECEMBER 8, 1870; ADJOURNED JANUARY 13, 1871. The names of the members of the Council were as follows: I. N. Coston Ada County John McNally Alturas County R G. Allen Boise County Wm. Lynch Boise County W. M. Vance Boise County H. A. Mattox Boise County S. P. C. Howard Idaho County B. J. Nordyke Lemhi County C. C. Call Nez Perce County J. H. Stump Oneida County D. G. Monroe Owyhee County Gilmore Hays Owyhee County B. F. Yantis Shoshone County President of Council, D. G. Monroe. The House of Representatives was composed of the following: W. A. Yates Ada County W. T. Porter Ada County T. D. Cahalan Ada County P. Everett Ada County R. W. Marshall Alturas County E. B. Hall Alturas County J. H. Wickersham Boise County D, B. Mooney Boise County J. J. Tompkins Boise County A. E. Callaway Boise County John West Boise County J. H. Hawley Boise County Julian Smith Boise County J. G. Hughes Boise County Perry Clark Idaho County P. Cleary Idaho County Jefferson Williams Lemhi County J. P. Silverwood Nez Perce County H. H. Wheeler Nez Perce County J. W. Morgan Oneida County SIXTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 161 J. B. Pierce Owyhee County W. P. Usher Owyhee County P. Campbell Owyhee County J. R. Crawford Owyhee County W. H. VanSlyke Owyhee County W. B. Yantis Shoshone County Speaker, W. A. Yates. At the beginning of this session, there appeared to be two reports of The territorial Comptroller and Territorial Treasurer, the first purporting to cover the time from December 1, 1868, to and includ- ing December 31st, 1869 (thirteen months), and the second cover- ing the time from December 31st, 1869, to November 30th, 1870 (eleven months). While these reports make a very discouraging showing to the over-burdened taxpayers, they are more satisfactory than any made before, from the fact that they cover all the time that intervened since the reports made to the last legislative assem- bly. The custom heretofore followed by these Territorial officials seemed to have been to have their reports cover the first three quar- ters of the year, leaving out the fourth quarter and not including it in the next report during the first four years when sessions of the legislature were held each year for four years. The Fifth ses- sion was held two years after the Fourth session, but the reports of these Territorial officials do not appear to cover the time of but one of the last years. It may be, however, that reports of the first year were made to the Governor and never sent to the legisla- ture. We think it doubtful whether the members of the legislature ever thought to inquire into this matter. From the first report we have in connection with this, the Sixth session, from the Comptroller, covering time from December 1, 1868, to December 31, 1869, we take the following extracts: Balance in Treasury December 1, 1868 $ 8,977.94 Dec. 31, 1869, paid in to treasury, for 13 months, from all sources 79,809.65 (The receipts as shown in this report, include most of the taxes for the two years, 1868-9.) Paid out: For interest on territorial bonds $17,475.75 Prison fund warrants redeemed 20,121.99 General fund warrants redeemed 25,955.93 School fund warrants redeemed 160.65 Library fund warrants redeemed 284.27 Express charges on money received 715.40 Printing, adv. and newspapers 1 16.29 Hta 11 168 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Postage 323.54 Stationery 140.69 Rent of office, Comptroller and Treasurer 1,350.00 Fuel and sawing 260.98 Office furniture and lights 139.66 Treasurer's Com 3,748.28 Dec. 31, Bal. in treasury 17,194.16 Total $87,987.59 The amount of assessable property for the year 1869, as shown by reports, was $5,544,501.36. Territorial tax, eight mills on the dollar. During the time this report covers, the Comptroller issued warrants as follows: Against general fund $40,508.67 Against prison fund 19,033.32 Against prison fund 160.65 Total $59,702.64 Of this amount, there was issued to the three Judges, for extra compensation $ 7,500.00 To the Governor, for extra compensation 2,500.00 To the Secretary, for extra compensation 1,000.00 Extra compensation to members and attaches of the Fifth session of the legislature 13,019-25 Total $24,019-25 This amount was given as extra pay to officers who were receiv- ing pay from the United States Government. Besides this, there were a number of other warrants issued in accordance with legis- lative enactment, which, considering the condition of the people to pay, we think ought never to have been ordered. The Treasurer reports the Territorial debt on December 31st, 1869, as follows: Bonded debt $ 73,954.93 Interest on same 739.55 General fund warrants outstanding 20,723.43 Interest on same 1,710.87 Prison fund, warrants outstanding 26,290.14 Interest on same 3,943.50 Total $127,362.42 Amount in treasury 17,194.16 Balance indebtedness $110,168.26 SIXTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 163 The finances seemed to have been conducted upon the principle that the more revenue we take in, the more liberal we should be with the officers, no matter if the Territory did get a little more in debt each year. We will now take up the next reports of these Territorial officers, which cover from December 31st, 1869, to November 30th, 1870 (eleven months). The assessment roll shows valuation of all prop- erty assessed for the year 1870 to be $3,665,705.55. The Territo- rial portion of tax, eight mills on the dollar. This is a falling off of $1,878,795.81 in the valuation from the year 1869, or about one- third. The greatest decrease seems to have been in Owyhee county, which is less than one-third of what it was the year before. The decrease from the year before in the different counties, was as fol- lows: Owyhee $1,238,008.25 Alturas $ 29,697.03 Boise 372,701 .80 Nez Perce 25,480.52 Ada 100,150.01 Shoshone 12,336.85 Lemhi 96,880.39 Idaho 39,759.25 $1,915,014.10 Oneida increased assessment $ 36,218 . 29 Decrease in assessment in 1870, below that of 1869-$1,878,795.81 All of the counties fell off in valuation of property except Oneida, which increased on account of the matter of the line dividing Utah and Idaho having been established, which showed that a number of people who had claimed to be in Utah were in Idaho, and were as- sessed in Idaho for the first time in 1870. The large decrease in the assessed valuation of property in Owyhee County is a problem which it is difficult to solve at this late date. However, at that time there seemed to have been a general falling off or depreciation in value of property throughout the Territory. It also appears that at the time the Comptroller made his report, December 1, 1870, that the subsequent assessment rolls for the counties of Lemhi, Owyhee and Shoshone, for that year had not been received at his office. They may have increased the assessment of these counties and of the Territory when they came in. The Comptroller's report shows that he issued for the eleven months ending November 30, 1870, warrants on account of current expenses, amounting to $30,876.41. This did not include the sal- ary of the Comptroller, nor of the Treasurer, nor rents, fuel, lights and other incidental expenses, which seem to have been paid in cash out of the treasury on vouchers. These officers seemed to have looked out for themselves and got their pay in cash. 164 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO The Treasurer's report for the eleven months ending November 30th, 1870, is as follows: Dec. 31, 1869, balance on hand $ 17,184.15 Nov. 30, 1870, received from all sources 31,723.92 Total $ 48,908.07 Disbursements during same period 32,331.11 Balance on hand Nov. 30, 1870 $ 16,576.96 He reports Territorial indebtedness Nov. 30, 1870, to be: Bonded debt with interest due . . .$ 79,073.49 Warrant debt with interest due 67,802.68 Total debt $146,776.17 Cash in treasury 16,576.96 Nov. 30, 1870, debt less cash on hand $130,199-21 The comptroller reports the official vote for delegate to Congress at the June election in 1870 to be only 4,724. This seems to be a poor showing all around decrease in population, decrease of taxa- ble property and an increase of public debt, with high taxes. Cer- tainly this was not very encouraging to the few taxpayers, nor in- viting to others to come. In those days the usual output from the mines had fallen off greatly, and most of the money was sent away soon after it was taken from the mines by our merchants to pay for goods and other necessary supplies. Our per capita circulating medium ran down very low. The extravagance practiced by our legislature in allow- ing extra pay to themselves and to the federal officers and large fees to county officers, was so discouraging to taxpayers that many people left the country, and but few came to take their places. On July 15, 1870, Congress passed an act which nullified all Ter- ritorial laws that provided that extra compensation should be paid to any federal officer, or to members of the legislature in Territo- ries. This action by Congress was a God-send to the oppressed tax- payers of Idaho. It lessened the expense of Territorial govern- ment one-half. As to what laws were passed at the Sixth session of the Territo- rial legislature, we are unable to give any of them from the fact that we cannot find a single copy of the Sixth Session Laws. I do not think the people will be much the loser if none of them are ever found. At this time it seemed difficult to get a Governor for Idaho. Gov- ernor Ballard's term of four years expired on April 30th, 1870. SIXTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 165 Samuel Bard was appointed on March 30th, 1870, to take Ballard's place. He never came. Oilman Marston was appointed on June 7th, 1870. He never put in an appearance. On January 12th, 1871, A. H. Connor was appointed and he failed to show up. On April 19th, 1871, Thos. M. Bowen was appointed. He came and stayed in Boise a week or ten days. He left and resigned. During all this time E. J. Curtis, Territorial Secretary, was acting Gover- nor. He delivered a message to the Sixth session of the legisla- ture, which met December 5th, 1870, which message was a very creditable document. But the President seemed determined we should have a Governor from some eastern State, so on October 24, 1871, Thomas W. Bennett of Indiana was appointed Governor of Idaho. He came soon after his appointment, and remained for some time. CHAPTER XXXV. NAMES OF FEDERAL AND TERRITORIAL OFFICERS FROM MARCH 10, 1863 TO JANUARY, 1870. Idaho's first Governor, William H. Wallace, was appointed on March 10th, 1863. He was in Washington, D. C., at the time of his appoinment. The usual route traveled by officials from the East to the West in those days was by water, by the way of Pan- ama, San Francisco and Portland, which took considerable time. He did not arrive in Idaho until in July, 1863. As soon as he could have the census taken, lay the Territory off in legislative districts, appoint judges of elections, call an election (which he did for Oc- tober 31, 1863), get the returns in and canvas them and issue cer- tificates to members of the legislature and one to himself as dele- gate for Idaho to Congress, he resigned as Governor and returned to Washington, D. C., leaving the duties of Governor of Idaho to be performed by the Territorial Secretary, William B. Daniels, who was appointed Secretary on the same day that Wallace was ap- pointed Governor. It may be presumed that Mr. Wallace went back to Washington, D. C., soon as convenient got his certificate on file, drew mileage and salary for the balance of that term of Congress, but what became of him I do not know. William B. Daniels performed the duties of both Governor and Secretary. He delivered a very creditable message to the First session of the Idaho legislature on December 9* 1863, and con- tinued to discharge the duties of both offices until he retired. Caleb Lyon was appointed Governor February 26, 1864, but did not arrive in Idaho until about August 1st, 1864. He was a jolly old fellow and remained most two years. He delivered a fairly good message to the legislature each year. In the meantime Con- gress had made the Governor of Idaho ex-officio Superintendent of Indian affairs of Idaho. This Governor was well posted on public affairs in the eastern States, but knew but little of the Northwest. But he thought well of himself and seemed to act as if he thought the people should allow him to think for them and direct them in all matters of importance. The result was that he did not always have fair sailing. However, after nearly two years of service, there seemed to be some complaints about the disbursement or non-disbursement of money that came into his hands as ex-offiio Superintendent of Indian affairs, and he was called to report at TERRITORIAL OFFICERS, 1863-70 167 Washington, D. C., for an adjustment of his accounts. That was the end of him, so far as Idaho was concerned. William B. Daniels was succeeded as Territorial Secretary about the first of August, 1864, by C. DeWitt Smith, who held the office until succeeded by Horace G. Gilson in September, 1865. On April 10th, 1866, David W. Ballard of Oregon was appointed Gov- ernor of Idaho Territory. Governor Ballard was not much of a statesman. He was by profession and practice a physician. He was a very pleasant and agreeable gentleman, quite a politician, and upon the whole a very good man. He served his four-year term out and until about July 1st, 1870, at which time he returned to his home in Yam Hill County, Oregon. We were then left without a Governor for more than one year. Horace C. Gilson, whose duties, among others, were to disburse the money appropriated by Congress to pay the members and at- taches of the legislature, received a check for this purpose amount- ing to about twenty-five thousand dollars. He procured stage fare for himself and another person from Boise to Walla Walla to be paid upon return, ostensibly going down to get this government check cashed. He went, but after reaching Portland, he seemed to change his mind and took passage to some foreign country and has not yet returned; neither has the government money nor the stage fares ever showed up. On July 26th, 1866, S. R. Howlett (who was a resident of Boise) was appointed Territorial Secretary for Idaho. Mr. Howlett got along fairly well, except some lively friction he had with the legis- lature at the Fourth session. We were not present and do not know who was to blame, so will leave the details of it out. Mr. Howlett held his position as Secretary until May, 1869* when he was suc- ceeded by Edward J. Curtis, also a resident of Boise, a lawyer and a very competent and pleasant gentleman. Mr. Curtis held this position for nearly nine years, a large portion of which time he was acting Governor. Everything went along quietly and smoothly during his administration. Justices of the District and Supreme Court were appointed as follows : Sidney Edgerton, Chief Justice, March 10th, 1863. Alex C. Smith, Associate Justice, March 10th, 1863. Samuel C. Parks, Associ- ate Justice, March 10th, 1863. These Judges seemed to get along fairly well, but from some cause, none of them kept their places very long. On July 25th, 1864, Silas Woodson was appointed Chief Justice to succeed Ed- gerton, and on February 28th, 1865, John R. McBride was appoint- ed Chief Justice to succeed Woodson. On April 17th, 1865, Milton 168 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Kelly was appointed Associate Justice to succeed Alex C. Smith, and on May 29th, 1866, John Cummins was appointed Associate Justice to succeed Samuel C. Parks. On July 1, 1866, Richard T. Miller was appointed Associate Justice to succeed John Cummins. On July 18th, 1868, Thomas J. Bowers was appointed Chief Jus- tice to succeed John R. McBride. Miller and Bowers were known as delegates. Holbrook's appointment was by the President, An- drew Johnson. On April 9* 1869, David Noggle was appointed Chief Justice to succeed Thomas Bowers. On April 15, 1869, John R. Lewis was appointed Associate Justice to succeed Richard T. Miller. This carries the Judges up to 1870. CLERKS OF SUPREME COURT. A. L. Downer served from June 9th, 1864, to March 31, 1866; William J. Young from March 31st, 1866, to March 1st, 1868; Sol Hasbrouck from March 1st, 1868, to July 5th, 1869; Don L. Noggle from July 5th, 1869, to May llth, 1871. UNITED STATES MARSHALS. Dolphus S. Payne was U. S. Marshal from March 13, 1863, to April 17, 1865; James H. Alvord, from April 17, 1865, to May, 1869; H. W. Moulton, from May, 1869, to March 25, 1870. UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS. George C. Houghf was U. S. Attorney from February 29, 1864, to April 19, 1869; Joseph W. Huston, from April 19th, 1869, to May 10, 1878. These clerks, marshals and attorneys all seemed to acquit them- selves in a creditable manner, except H. W. Moulton, U. S. Mar- shal. For some cause, he seemed unpopular and was called back east soon, never to return. Delegates to Congress were William H. Wallace from January 1, 1864, to March 4, 1865; F. D. Holbrook, from March 4, 1865, to March 4, 1869; J. K. Shafer, from March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1871. Territorial officers appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice of the legislative council: AUDITORS AND COMPTROLLERS. John M. Bacon, from July 23, 1863, to September 23, 1863 ; B. F. Lamkin, from September 23, 1863, to January 27, 1867; Horace B. Lane, from January 27, 1867, to May 14, 1867; William R. Bishop, from May 14, 1867, to January 1, 1868; Daniel Cram, from January 1, 1868, to January 15, 1875. The office of Auditor was changed to that of Comptroller in 1876, and carried with it ex-officio Superintendent of Public Instruction. TERRITORIAL OFFICERS, 1868-70 169 Horace B. Lane, the first Comptroller, was accidentally killed a few months after his appointment. He was a very competent officer. TERRITORIAL TREASURERS. Derrick S. Kenyon, September 7, 1863, to May 18, 1865; Ephriam Smith, May 19, 1865, to January 7, 1867; E. C. Sterling, January 7, 1867, to January 16, 1871. SUPERINTENDENTS OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. J. R. Chittenden, December 23, 1864, to July 25, 1866; W. R. Bishop, July 25, 1866, to January, 1867. This office was then consolidated with the Comptroller's. Beginning in 1863, up to 1870, there was but little friction be- tween the masses of the people and the federal officers. Most of the people were attending to their legitimate work, but there were often complaints between and among the officers, dissatisfaction among attorneys about the actions of the judges. It seems there must always be a few to growl and find fault with others. I have sometimes thought that a few complainers were necessary to hold officers and the community inside the limits of justice and good morals. All things considered, the people and the officers did fairly well in those by-gone days. CHAPTER XXXVI. MINING PUBLIC BUILDINGS MILLS, ETC., IN 1869 AND 1870. In 1869; most of the rich placer mines on the creeks, gulches and bars had been worked out in Boise Basin. Many who had been engaged in mining and furnishing supplies for the miners, closed up their business and left the country. A great number of the miners had worked their claims in a very crude manner, and had not saved the fine gold. Some of these miners sold their claims to Chinamen. They worked the ground over and got fairly good pay, in fact some of them did very well. The Chinamen are care- ful in their mining operations, and usually save about all the gold there is in the dirt. By this time, it had been discovered that many places on the hillsides, near the creeks and gulches, prospected very well, but it would be expensive to get water on these places high enough to work the ground successfully. But the miners were not daunted; they had come for gold and intended to have it. They joined to- gether in companies and began to construct ditches so they could run water on the hillsides. It was a large undertaking, and cost the miners lots of money and many days of hard work, but they made a success of it. They had the line of ditches surveyed along the mountain sides, and fluming across many ravines and gulches. This water was sold by the miner's inch, measured in a small flume with a headgate under a six-inch pressure, at an agreed rate per inch per day. This arrangement seemed to work very satisfactorily. Those who had dry claims and had to purchase water to wash their mining ground, could tell within a few days if it was worth work- ing. The majority of the claims paid reasonably well while the ground lasted. Some of them were what is known as shallow diggings, and soon worked out, while others were deep and went to bedrock, and so lasted for several years. What is meant by shallow diggings is where it is only a short distance from the surface to the bedrock. The gold seldom settles below the surface of the bedrock unless the bedrock should be soft and seamy, in which case the bedrock is dug up as far down as it is soft and seamy and generally pays well. While most of these hillside claims paid well, they were not so rich as the ground in the creeks had been, and were limited in ex- tent, so the annual output of gold was much less for the years of 1869 and 1870, as compared with previous years. PUBLIC BUILDINGS, 1869-70 171 The mill at Quartzburg continued to run and paid well. Work continued on quite a number of the quartz mines in Silver City^and several quaj&af mills were crushing ore. A large amount of silver and gold bullion was turned out from these mills. There did not seem to be much mining going on in Atlanta or Rocky Bar, ex- cepting development work. A small amount of ore was worked with good results. Some placer mining was done at Orofino, Elk Qity and Pierce City. Some development work was also done on the quartz ledges. At Florence, Warrens, and the Salmon River camps, mining was continued on a limited scale. Through the efforts of our delegate to Congress, E. D. Holbrook, in 1868, an appropriation was made of forty thousand dollars for a United States prison near Boise. Hon. Thomas Donaldson was appointed superintendent of construction of this building. The contract was let to that old pioneer, Charles May. This building was erected on the site of where our present building now stands, about two and one-half miles east of Boise. Mr. Holbrook also suucceeded in getting an appropriation of seventy-five thousand dollars to erect an assay office in Boise City. Hon. John R. McBride was appointed superintendent of construc- tion of this building. The assay office, as constructed by Mr. Mc- Bride, still stands and reflects great credit upon him for having the work done well. The people of Idaho were generally an industrious, law-abiding, intelligent people, working together for the mutual benefit of each other. There were no tramps or beggars in those days, and if any one was in need, assistance was quickly and gladly given. The farmers continued to improve their farms on the Boise, Payette and Weiser rivers. Fine crops of oats, wheat and barley were raised. Many of the farmers had a bountiful supply of veg- etables and some apples, pears, plums and small fruits were raised. A few years before this, several mills had been erected in Boise Valley. One in Boise was built by Cyrus Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs manufactured large quantities of flour, and also put up quantities of bacon, which he sold to the miners and people of Boise. Another mill was built in what is now South Boise by H. P. Isaacs. He, also, did a good business with his flour mill. Peter Moore put up a mill about six miles below Boise; and Packard and Stevenson, a flour mill about twenty-four miles from Boise on the north side of Boise River near Middleton. All of these mills were run by water power. There was not grain enough in the country to keep these mills going all the time, but they did a good business and were em- ployed for several months in each year. By this time, many farmers had settled in the southeastern part 172 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO of Idaho and some in Lemhi County. A little farming was done in Ae Bruneau Valley. In the northern part of Idaho, especially in Lewiston, many fruits and vegetables were raised. Many men were engaged very extensively in raising stock and the business was profitable for the range was excellent. CHAPTER XXXVII. SEVENTH SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE TERRITORY OF IDAHO CONVENED AT BOISE CITY DECEMBER 2, 1872 ADJOURNED JANUARY 10, 1873. Names of the members of the Council were: I. N. Coston Ada County J. B. Wright Ada County John McNally Alturas County Benj. Willson Boise County J. V. R. Witt Boise County H. A. Mattox Boise County S. P. C. Howard Idaho County B. J. Nordyke Lemhi County R. Emmett Miller Nez Perce County Gilmore Hays Owyhee County L. P. Higbee Owyhee County J. H. Stump Oneida County Standf ord Capps Shoshone County President of Council, I. N. Coston. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. A. E. Galloway Ada County S. M. Jeffries Ada County Jas. A. Bennett Ada County Chas. Himrod Ada County G. M. Parsons Alturas County A. F. Huffaker Alturas County Fred Campbell Boise County M . J. Biddy Boise County I. W. Garrett Boise County Matt Davis Boise County A. Dean Boise County Jas. J. Apperson Boise County G. W. Crafts Boise County A. B. Anderson Boise County N. B. Willey Idaho County Harvey B. Hall Idaho County J. H. Trauger Lemhi County Thos Elder Lemhi County G. W. Tomer Nez Perce County S. S. Fenn Nez Perce County 174 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO L H. Hatch Oneida County A. L. Simmondi Owyhee County Peter Adams Owyhee County J. M. Short Owyhee County J. B. Sissins Shoshone County P. McMahon Shoshone County Speaker of House, S. S. Fenn. The Seventh session of the legislature of Idaho seems to have been more careful and considerate of all matters brought before them than any other legislative body that ever met in Idaho. They did not enact as many laws as did the past sessions, but most, if not all^ of the laws they made were good and in the interest of economy. Sixty-six pages of laws, and a few pages of memorials and resolu- tions embrace the work of the forty days' session of the Seventh legislature. Congress having annulled the act passed at the First session of the Idaho legislature giving a large increase of pay to the Federal Judges, the Governor, Secretary, and members and attaches of the legislature, the people seemed to send a more economical and con- servative set of men to the legislature than ever before. Some ac- counted for the good work they did upon the grounds that Congress had cut off their extra pay, so they had but little money to spend outside after paying board bills. They did not visit places of ex- pensive amusement, but attended strictly to the command of their constituents. Their legislation was most all on lines of reducing expenses in Territorial and county governments, which lightened the burden of taxation, and seemed to have a good effect on county and Territorial officers. They did not receive so much money for sala- ries and fees, and, like the legislators, had to cut out the places of expensive amusements and attend to the duties of their respective offices. For the first time the people, the legislature and the officials seemed to realize that extravagance in Territorial government must stop. In October, 1871, more than one year before this Seventh session of the legislature met, Thos. W. Bennett had been appointed Gover- nor of Idaho. He delivered his message to the legislature soon after they organized, which we think was an able state document. His recommendations on retrenchment and for a change in our criminal laws were good then, and we think they are equally good now for our people, if put in operation ; at least, we venture to insert them here with the hope that our next legislature will give them careful and due consideration. Recommendations of Governor T. W. Bennett to the Seventh session of the legislature of Idaho: SEVENTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 175 RETRENCHMENT. "The subject of retrenchment and reform is an old one, so far as discussion is concerned, and always forms the chief stock in trade of the aspiring legislator when before his constituents, and is an inevitable paragraph in every Governor's message. But as a prac- tical question, it has not been so altogether worn out, with constant use in legislative enactments, as to render all further attempts use- less. "Taxation, at best, is one of the heavy burdens of any people, and when it is laid recklessly, and unreasonably, it becomes almost un- bearable, and kindles a spirit of insubordination and distrust. 'Pub- lic confidence becomes weak, enterprise dies out, and business stag- nates/ And especially is this the case in a Territory like ours, where settlements are sparse and the people poor. That represen- tative of the people will do himself most honor who labors most as- siduously to lighten, as far as possible, the demands on the pockets of the taxpayer. He cannot be a wise patriotic legislator who acts in the interest of moneyed corporations, private individuals, or of- fice-holders, at the neglect and expense of the people he pretends to represent. Corporations and offices were made for the people, not the people for them. And such privileges and aid only should be granted them as will subserve, enrich and prosper the people. There is always more danger of governing a people too much than too little. A multitude of salaried officers are an expensive luxury, that enrich the few at the impoverishment of the many. The people of this Territory are poor, and 'times' with them are 'hard.' And ex- perience has convinced me that they are a people easily governed, well disposed to obey the laws, and are very much in need of the simplest and cheapest government that can be devised, consistent with sound sense and justice. And every representative of the peo- ple who fails to use his utmost endeavors to accommodate himself to this condition of affairs will prove himself recreant to the trust im- posed in him by a confiding people. I therefore submit to your candid consideration whether, in many cases, offices may not be con- solidated, and in other cases entirely abolished, while in nearly all of them the fees and salaries may not be largely reduced. These fees and salaries were generally fixed at times of general prosperity, when money was plenty and prices high, and when, too, there was a great deal more labor to be performed by the officer. Now I sub- mit whether these fees and salaries should not be made to conform to the changed condition of the people who have them to pay. The recipients of these favors of the people will doubtless object and complain, but if the people demand it, you should not shrink from 176 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO the responsibility. If the object of the legislator is to foster a sys- tem of political rewards, then let it alone; but if, as I believe, the object should be to foster the interest of the people, then I urge a change. I would recommend the raising of a joint committee of the two houses, on Fees and Salaries, whose special duty for the ses- sion should be to make a careful and deliberate investigation of the fees and salaries of all the officers Territorial, district, county and precinct over which you have jurisdiction, and see which of them can be abolished, which of them consolidated, and which of them reduced in emoluments. And when this examination is made, let the committee report a bill, which, with its plain provisions and adequate penalties, will accomplish the will of the people. I would not be un- derstood as intending to reflect on any officer Territorial, district, county or precinct for, so far as I know, they are all honest men, and perform their duties well; nor do I say that all are overpaid, nor that some are not paid too little, but they are all the servants of the people you represent, and if they are honest, and recognize their accountability to their masters, they will not object to the closest scrutiny. CRIMINAL CODE. "I would suggest two amendments to the Criminal Code, both of which I feel assured would greatly promote the ends of justice. So amend the law that in all cases of jury trials in criminal cases, the jury shall, in their verdict, affix the penalty as well as find the guilt or innocence of the party. Such is the law in most of the States, and is certainly founded on justice and common sense. The object of trials by jury is that every accused person may have the right to be tried by his peers, twelve of his fellow citizens, and to prevent him from becoming the victim of the malice or prejudice of any one man, however learned he may be. Then what a mockery of a man's rights to so divide his case that twelve men try the question of his guilt, and then one man at his discretion affix his punishment. It is just as important to the prisoner that the question of the meas- ure of his punishment be tried by his peers, as that of whether he be punished at all both are issues to be determined by the evidence. One man may have peculiar and honest prejudices against certain classes of offences, or particular races or nationalities, too, yet twelve men are not apt to be afflicted with the same prejudice at the same time. The other amendment to which I refer is, that the Court, or jury, in affixing the penalty for a conviction of murder in the first degree, be allowed the discretion to adjudge either the death pen- alty or imprisonment for life. For in case of murder in the first de- gree, while in law there are no further subdivisions of the degree, SEVENTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 177 yet in fact we know that there are wide distinctions, which the com- mon sense of every man suggests. "Who will say that the man who commits murder while stinging under some supposed or real insult or injury, although he may have so deliberately, premeditatedly, and with malice aforethought, is equally guilty, and deserving the same punishment that should be awarded to him who takes a man's life for his money, or to accom- plish an outrage upon his family? Both are guilty of murder in the first degree, yet the Court or jury should be allowed to weigh the circumstances and measure the punishment according to the enormity of the offence. Under the present system jurors are often so impressed with the severity of the punishment which must follow their verdict of guilty, that they return a verdict of not guilty, merely to avert the terrible penalty of death, or else they perform the judicial farce of finding the prisoner guilty of murder in the second degree, or even of manslaughter, in order to dodge the re- sponsibility of the death penalty. "It has been represented to me by one of the Justices of the Su- preme Court, that in one of the counties of his district a homicide has been committed, and that it will be almost impossible in that county to procure a grand jury to indict or a trial jury to try the offender. I would, therefore, recommend that you so amend the Criminal Code that criminals may be indicted and tried in any county in the judicial district where the offence has been committed, when in the opinion of the District Attorney it will be impossible to secure an indictment or an impartial trial in the county where the offence was committed." At the time Governor Bennett made these recommendations, our Territory was in debt about $135,000; and most of the counties were badly in debt. His recommendations on retrenchment certainly had a good effect on the action of the legislature, for they did pass laws on the lines of retrenchment in both Territorial and county ex- penses, which were of great benefit to the whole people of the Ter- ritory. You may ask, How did it benefit the office-holder, whose salary or fees were reduced ? The answer is : They saw at once that they would not have very much money to squander while running around neglecting the duties of their offices, so most of them set- tled down to work in their offices, quit their extravagant habits, made better officers, and saved as much or more from their small salaries than they saved from their larger ones, and it tended to make better officers and citizens of them. Special legislation was enacted at every session and often an act would be passed that applied to only one county. A special act was passed fixing the salaries of the officers of Ada County. It will be Hte-12 178 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO remembered that Ada County at that time embraced all of what is now Ada, also Canyon and Washington counties. The salaries of the county officers were fixed as follows: Sheriff, $1500 per annum. For each prisoner confined in the county jail, for board, clothing and medical attendance, $1.25 per day. For jailor, when one or more prisoners were confined in the jail, $3 per day. The auditor's salary, $1,000 per annum, for services rendered by him as auditor and clerk of the board of county commissioners. Each county commissioner, $200 per annum. County treasurer, $700 per annum. The assessor, who was ex-officio tax collector, was to receive for assessing and collecting on all poll tax, ten per cent, and on prop- erty tax seven per cent (see Seventh Session Territorial laws, 1873). None of these officers were allowed deputies at the county expense. If they had deputies, they had to pay them from their own pocket books. It would seem that it would have been hard to get compe- tent men for these positions at the low salaries, but the offices were usually filled by honest, faithful and competent men. The Territorial Comptroller's report for the two years, ending November 30, 1872, is very incomplete. He reports a certain amount of money received by the Treasurer, but fails to give the source from which it came. He gives value of assessable property for 1871 as $3,919,148.82 and for 1872, $3,624,747.72; number of poll tax receipts sold in two years 10,637; and the number of licenses sold 2,409- His report does not show what counties had paid, or what amount each or any of them paid. His report, so far as giv- ing an intelligent detailed statement of the Territory's financial condition, is a failure. He seemed to have had a cranky spell on, and devoted a large portion of his report to telling the Governor and the legislature what they should do, or what should be done. About all we can get out of the Comptroller's report of interest is that, for the two years ending November 30, 1870, to November 30, 1872, he drew warrants on the Territory for $38,781.18, as fol- lows: Against the general fund: For District Attorney's salary $ 3,466.66 For miscellaneous items 1,250.00 For Supreme Court expenses 2,004.79 Foi Sixth legislature's expenses 1,912.50 For fitting library, rent and papers 1,310.60 For printing blanks for Comptroller 3,817.00 For Treasurer's salary 1,750.00 SEVENTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 179 For Comptroller's salary 3,500.00 For contingent expenses 306.32 Making a total drawn of $19,317.87 On the prison fund: For the same period of time for keeping, bringing and transferring prisoners from Idaho City to Boise, war- rants were drawn on the prison fund for $19,463.31 Making an issue in Territorial warrants in two years of .$38,781.18 This would seem like getting expenses down to a minimum. But the Comptroller, for some cause, has failed to mention the item of interest paid by the Treasurer on the Territorial bonded debt for the past two years, which amounted to $13,851.93 Interest on the outstanding Territorial warrants for the past two years amounted to 9,193.69 Treasurer paid for expressage on money sent, about. . . . 1,200.00 Add to the above three items 38,781.18 Making total cost of government to Territory for two years, from November 30, 1870, to November 30, 1872 $63,026.80 This is exclusive of what the National Government paid toward the support of the Territorial government. This is about the best financial showing made for any two years since the organization of the Territory. While the debt of the Territory at this time, in- cluding bonds, warrants and interest, amounted to about $135,000, most all extras and unnecessaries were cut off, and the people had a chance to pay out. The extra compensation paid to the Judges, the Governor, Secretary, members and attaches of the legislature were all cut off, and they all did better work than ever before in the line of economy. While Idaho's population had decreased several thousand, and her taxable property had decreased materially for the last few years, her debt increased gradually, caused mainly by the extra compen- sation paid by the Territory to officials who were paid by the United States. During the past seven years, they had drawn from the Ter- ritorial treasury more than one hundred thousand dollars, besides not less than thirty thousand dollars interest had been paid on war- rants issued to pay these extra salaries and per diems. The Seventh session applied the pruning knife wherever it was necessary to both county and Territorial officials, and to incidental expenses, so that at the end of the next two years, 1874, a better financial showing was made. CHAPTER XXXVIII. AGRICULTURE, STOCK RAISING, MINING, TRANSPORTATION, AND CON- DUCT OP THE PEOPLE GENERALLY IN 1871 AND 1872. AGRICULTURE. There had been a slow but steady improvement in this industry during the last two years. In all the counties in the Territory, more land was reclaimed and put into cultivation. Irrigation ditches were constructed, orchards set out, many new dwelling houses and barns built. The yield of grain, hay and vegetables was generally good. The farmers found a fair market in the mining camps for their veg- etables, fruits, butter, cheese, eggs, etc. The stage lines, freight- ers, livery stables and mines furnished a market for all the supplies the farmer had, including hay and grain, to spare. Every one at that time seemed to have plenty of the necessaries of life, and seemed to be living comfortably and contentedly, making some im- provement each year. STOCK RAISING. This industry was prosperous in those years. Quite a number were engaged in raising cattle and horses, and a few were in the sheep business. The public range was good, and range stock re- quired but little, if any, feed through the winter. Those who had good stock and looked after them properly, did well. The mining camps and other towns furnished a good market for the beef and mutton, and the stage lines, freighters and liverymen furnished a good market for the horses. So those engaged in raising stock did well and had no reason for complaint. MINING. This industry was not so good in 1871 and 1872 as before. Many of the rich placer mines in Boise Basin and other placer mining camps had been worked out. Quite a number of men left the placer mining camps. Some went to and settled in the ag- ricultural districts in Idaho; some returned to their old homes in other States and Territories, while still others prospected for quartz ledges. The placer miners who remained in Boise Basin turned their attention mainly to constructing ditches to carry water on to the high land in order to enable them to work the ground on these hillsides by hydraulic pressure. The ground worked on these hillsides usually yielded good returns, but the supply of water was no: sufficient to carry on extensive work. Most all the water used PROGRESS MADE IN 1871-2 181 by these placer miners came from the melting snow in the moun- tains, which usually began to decrease very rapidly about the first of August, so that this work could be carried on but three or four months of each year. Still, with all these set-backs, most of the miners did reasonably well. The quartz mines at Silver City in Owyhee County turned out a fair amount of gold and silver bul- lion for the amount of quartz worked. Several new discoveries of quartz ledges were made in different mining camps. But little de- velopment work was done, and but little progress was made in the way of getting in machinery to work the quartz. We cannot report any very large returns from any of the mines worked in these years, nor can we report any very rich new discov- eries, but most all of those who worked at mining, we think got fair remuneration for their investment and labor. TRANSPORTATION. Under this head there is nothing new to report. The same old mode of transportation continud in the southern portion of Idaho. The stages of the Northwestern Stage Company ran regular daily trips, both ways, over all the old routes mentioned before, carrying U. S. mail, passengers, Wells, Fargo & Co. express and fast freight. W. C. Tatro ran a weekly stage line from Boise to Rocky Bar, carrying U. S. mail, passengers and express. Most all merchan- dise was still brought to Southern Idaho by freight teams from Kel- ton or Winnemucca on the Central Pacific railroad. Competition in the freighting business reduced the price to a low figure, rang- ing from three to six cents per pound. The price was usually reg- ulated by the season of the year and condition of the roads. In the southeastern part of the Territory, a railroad called the Utah Northern was built from Ogden in Utah, running through the southeastern part of Idaho and on to Butte, Montana. This road helped the people in that part of Idaho very much in the way of cheaper and quicker transportation of U. S. mails, passengers, freight, etc. It also tended to increase the population in the south- eastern part of Idaho. In the northern counties everything seemed to be moving along about as usual. Most all the merchandise for that country was brought to Lewiston from Portland, Oregon, by steamer, and from there distributed to the interior towns by freight wagons and pack trains. The people all over the Territory seemed to be making a good living and most of them accumulating more property or making new improvements. The health of the people was good and they all seemed to be fairly well contented and behaved themselves well. 182 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO The U. S. assay office at Boise City was completed in 1872 and stocked up with a corps of federal officers, and put in operation for business. The U. S. penitentiary near Boise City was also com- pleted in 1872, and put in charge of a United States Marshal with the necessary guards and equipments. The Territorial prisoners were transferred from Idaho City to the United States peniten- tiary in April, 1872, to be kept by the United States at the rate of one dollar per head per day, which included cost of guards, board, clothing, medical attendance and everything. This was a saving of about three hundred per cent over what the Territory was paying to have them kept at Idaho City; besides, the priso- ners were under much better sanitary conditions. To illustrate to the people now that the people in Idaho in early days were not quite so bad as they have been represented to be by some writers, when the Territorial prisoners were moved from Idaho City to the U. S. penitentiary at Boise City in April, 1872, there were only nine prisoners, and the criminal law had been as strictly enforced in those days as it is now. Although Idaho's population was small in those days, I make the assertion with con- fidence, that the percentage of violations of the criminal law was not greater, according to the population, than it is now in 1Q08, and for petty offenses, the percentage now is very much greater than in the early days, in proportion to the population. We are unable to find a report of the Superintendent of Public Schools, but suffice to say that we know there was a gradual im- provement in our public schools every year more money was col- lected for school purposes, more school houses were built and more schools maintained. To sum up the general condition of the people in Idaho in the years 1871 and 1872, they were law-abiding, industrious, reasona- bly prosperous, honest, contented and happy. CHAPTER XXXIX. INTERESTING CONTRIBUTION FROM HON. JOHN 8. BUTLER, OF PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA SOME OF HIS EXPERIENCE IN THE EARLY SIXTIES IN IDAHO, Mr. J. S. Butler came to the Boise Basin mining district in Boise County, Idaho, early in the Spring of 1863. Later in the Summer, his brother, Thomas J. Butler, came. The two brothers, T. J. and J. S. Butler, started the first news- paper that was ever published in the southern portion of Idaho called "The Boise News," issued at what was then called Bannock City, now Idaho City. They issued a weekly of good fair size, well filled with a truthful account of all local and as much east- ern news as it was possible for them to get in those days, when there was neither United States mails, railroads, nor telegraph lines within several hundred miles of Idaho. They had to depend upon a very expensive express for all the outside news they got for several months. We have copies of most of their issues in the State Historical room. We often look at them, and always wonder how they man- aged to furnish so much reliable news as they did, when their fa- cilities for getting news were so isolated. They were both honor- able, intelligent and industrious gentlemen. The old papers we have issued by them, we prize above anything we have in the His- torical room. We also prize the contribution hereto made by Mr. J. S. Butler of his early experience in Idaho as valuable reading matter, because we know that his statements are all true. Below we give his contribution in full with great pleasure: "Palo Alto, Cal., September 7, 1907. "Mr. John Hailey, State Historical Society, Boise, Idaho. "Dear Mr. Hailey: Your kind note enclosing one, also, from Prof. Aldrich, on the subject of the early history of Idaho, is at hand. "I cheerfully comply with your request to contribute something, but, owing to the lack of data, I may be found at fault as to dates, etc. "I left Red Bluff, California, in the Fall of 1862, my immediate destination being Auburn, Oregon, to look after a band of cattle left in Powder River Valley earlier in the year. I went first to Canon City, on John Day's River, and about the middle of January crossed the Blue Mountains to Auburn. This proved the most diffi- 184 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO cult undertaking of my life, before or since. To cross these moun- tains in January, where the headwaters of John Day's River on one side interlaps with those of Powder and Burnt Rivers on the other, is an undertaking which, once accomplished, will prove suf- ficient for a lifetime. After battling with the snow, which was from three to twenty feet deep, for about eleven days, during most of which time we were lost, without even so much as taking off our boots, our party, numbering about a dozen, arrived at Auburn. This town at that time consisted of probably fifteen hundred in- habitants, all housed in log cabins, whose occupants were buoyed up with flattering mining prospects, but the mines were not there, so the town disappeared as rapidly as it came. It is now repre- sented by Baker City. "In March, 1863, I organized a pack train, which had been win- tered in Grande Ronde Valley, and started for Walla Walla. At this time the great rush had set in for Boise Basin, by way of the old emigrant road, crossing the Blue Mountains at Lee's Encamp- ment. Going out by the same road, traveling light and continually meeting people with heavy-laden pack animals, we were expected to give the road. The trail was a very narrow one and in deep snow. Night came on and found us sitting out in the snow with the result of not having made more than five miles. We resolved to travel all night while those going in the opposite direction were in camp. This we did and arrived on the western slope of the mountains, where the road descends in one continuous steep grade for at least five miles, just as the morning's sun was lighting the bunch-grass plains of Umatilla Valley, disclosing to view one of the grandest sights that could be presented to anyone, and espe- cially to the long snowbound mortals we then were. We had emerged from four feet of snow and entered a valley containing the most nutritious bunch-grass more than a foot high, in less than two hours. It is unnecessary to say that we went into camp at this place, as no power at command could have moved our half starved horses and mules from their newly found feed, to say noth- ing of our own desire to take a rest. "At Walla Walla I met Maj. Reese, of the Walla Walla 'Watch- man.' He had just bought out a competitor in the newspaper busi- ness and had two outfits on hand. This gave me an idea. Realiz- ing that a great gathering of people was then taking place in Boise Basin, nearly three hundred miles from any newspaper, with the probability of an approaching political campaign, which after- wards materialized in its most heated form, I conceived the idea of starting a newspaper in the Basin. With this in view I sold out my packing business, sent for my family and my brother, T. JOHN S. BUTLER'S LETTER 185 J., who became the editor of our new enterprise. We arrived at Idaho City with our outfit some time in August and issued the first number of the 'Boise News' in the latter part of September or first of October, 1863, which was the first newspaper ever pub- lished in Southern Idaho. Before we arrived with our material we frequently discussed the situation and one of the most serious questions presented for consideration was as to where we would find our help in the way of printers, etc., but, before we had lo- cated a site, printers applied for a situation, almost in scores, and we had no trouble in securing a crew of some of the most compe- tent men I have ever known, with a number of whom friendships were formed to last through life. "In order to get to and hold the field (a number of efforts were then being made in that direction), and as we had had no time to fully equip ourselves, a visit to San Francisco seemed necessary, but as the delay attending such a trip would have virtually sur- rendered the field to a possible competitor, we resolved to impro- vise a great many things, such as the wooden composing stick, alluded to in Prof. Aldrich's note. I remember quite well, although it is now forty-five years ago, that I made two composing sticks from a piece of an oak tobacco box. One of these sticks was taken away by a compositor named McGuire, who declared it was much to be preferred, on account of its lightness and greater capacity, to the ordinary composing stick. Another very important item which we were short of was imposing stone. For this purpose we brought into use a large slab, split from a pine log, about 3 by 6 feet. We dressed off one side, mounted it on a frame and covered it with sheet iron. Among other improvised things we attempted to use sheet zinc for leads (used for separating the lines of type) but found them a failure owing to their corrosion on being washed with lye, causing them to adhere to the type in such manner as to prevent their being distributed. "We printed all four pages of our paper at one impression on a Washington hand press, the entire form being 24 by 36 inches in size. This we locked up in one solid chase. The chase we also had to have made, which was done in very good shape, out of horseshoe iron. The only particular thing I remember concern- ing this job is that it cost $95.00. I also remember that it was a very difficult matter to keep the surface of our wooden-sheet-iron stone true and level, and that, when we locked up a form and stood it on its edge, it looked more like the mold-board of a plow than a newspaper. However, we were vain enough to think, and still think, that we made quite a success of the enterprise, espe- 186 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO cially in a financial way. Our office was located on East Hill and proved to be but a few feet outside of the great fire of 1865. "In the winter of 1864 I remember the snow at one time was about five feet deep and it was very difficult to obtain matter to fill our columns, small as they were, when our editor resorted to the scheme of copying from some book several pages of mythology. "There probably never assembled anywhere, so many reckless adventurers, so far from the influence and restraints of society, and with such ample means to gratify their wild desires for gam- bling and dissipation, as were attracted to Boise Basin during the years 1863 and 1864. Three theaters, 'Jenny Lind,' 'Forrest' and 'Kelly's Varieties' were maintained with nightly performances dur- ing most of that time, and some of the best actors of the day were called to their boards, Julia Dean Hayne, George Waldron and Mrs. Dayton being among them. "The character of the mines, being exclusively placer, made it possible for all to make money who wished to work, and hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent in revelry and sport. It was not unusual to hear in the morning of some fatal encounter at the gaming table, the result of the exciting life of the previous night. But as this was usually confined to one class of the people, the more conservative and respectable class generally summed the matter up with the remark 'Let them settle it among themselves/ "The people were not all bad, however. On the contrary, I think the extremes had met here. In civilized society many had been held in check by its regulations, while here, where there were no such restraints, the real character stood out, and one had no difficulty in determining it. Many of the best people I ever knew were found under these circumstances. "We conducted our paper for about fifteen months, during which time we passed through two of the most exciting political cam- paigns possible to such a community. It was during the most ex- citing times of the Rebellion and the parties here were formed on the questions involved in that great issue, and, as a great many of Price's army, when it was disbanded, found their way to Idaho, that party prevailed. "The Democratic party having succeeded to local offices, it was necessary for them to have an organ of their own, so, on a liberal offer by Street & Bowman, we disposed of the whole outfit to them, who changed the name to that of the 'Idaho World/ which I believe is still running. We left our files with the office which no doubt they still have. "We ran our office night and day during the most exciting times, with shifts of printers, in order to get out the work which was JOHN S. BUTLER'S LETTER 187 offered. This included a campaign paper for each of the great par- ties and all their job work. In addition to this, we printed daily programs for each of the three theaters. Prices were regulated by what the traffic would bear and as ours was the only printing concern within about three hundred miles the traffic could stand a heavy strain. There were about 10,000 people in and about Idaho City at that time. "Of the thousands of people I met at the various camps during the seven years I was in that country, I can now recall less than a score living. Joaquin Miller was Justice of the Peace at Canon City, when I was there, in 1862. His wife, Minnie Myrtle Miller, was then the poetic genius of the family and afterwards contrib- uted to the columns of the Boise News several short poems of con- siderable merit. Joaquin, himself, had not yet become famous. He is living at Oakland, California. "At Idaho City I can only call to mind your worthy President, J. A. Pinney, Captain Bledsoe, Rube Robbins and I. L. Tyner. Mrs. C. M. Hays was then a young girl and a member of our fam- ily. "At Placerville, James H. Hawley, then a boy, was the agent and carrier of the Boise News. He is now your most distinguished attorney. "Our Silver City friends are now represented by W. J. Hill, formerly of the Orvyhee Avalanche and now the Salinas (Cal.) In- dex, who is easily the dean of country newspaper men of the Pa- cific slope, Chas. M. Hays, the Eastman Bros, and Chris Moore. "Of those connected in any way with the pioneer newspaper, the Boise News, Mrs. Butler and myself are the only survivors, so far as I know, and we offer our greetings, with the old-time cordiality, to the State Historical Society of Idaho. "Sincerely yours, "J. S. BUTLER." CHAPTER XL. THE EIGHTH SESSION OP THE LEGISLATURE OP THE TERRITORY OF IDAHO. This session convened at Boise City on the 7th day of December, 1874, and adjourned on January 15, 1875. The names of the members were as follows: COUNCIL. H. E. Prickett Ada County A. H. Robie Ada County John McNally Alturas County John M. Cannady Boise County James H. Hawley Boise County R. E. Foote Boise County S. P. C. Howard Idaho County E. T. Beatty Lemhi County L. P. Brown Nez Perce County Alex. Stalker Oneida County Henry Martin Owyhee County W. A. Goulder Shoshone County President, E. T. Beatty. HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES. Orlando Robbins Ada County J. H. McCarty Ada County J. H. Paddock Ada County J. B. Pierce Ada County R. A. Sidebotham Alturas County V. S. Anderson Alturas County M. G. Luna Boise County E. A. Stevenson Boise County Fred Campbell Boise County C. W. Steward Boise County Josiah Cave Boise County J. W. White Boise County G. B. Baldwin Boise County C. R. White Boise County Philip Cleary Idaho County W. H. Rett Idaho County Geo. L. Shoup Lemhi County F. C. Tuthill Lemhi County Wm. Groat Nez Perce County EIGHTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 189 I. S. Waldrip Nez Perce County Wm. Clemens Oneida County L. Pool Owyhee County F. M. Hunt Owyhee County Isaac Gulp Owyhee County E. M. Moore Owyhee County C. F. Nelson Shoshone County Speaker, E. A. Stevenson. At this session there were twelve members of the Council and twenty-six members of the House of Representatives, making thir- ty-eight in all. As nearly as I can learn of their present where- abouts, twenty-five of them have passed away, and perhaps a few more that I have not heard of recently. The following extract is taken from the Territorial Comptroller's report, dated December 1, 1874, covering the two years from December 1, 1872, to December 1, 1874: Value of assessable property in 1873 $4,363,589-72 Value of assessable property in 1874 4,513,022.49 Number of taxable inhabitants in 1873 3,889 Number of taxable inhabitants in 1874 3,419 Number poll tax receipts sold in 1873 4,924 Number poll tax receipts sold in 1874 4,018 Warrants issued by Comptroller for the two years ending No- vember 30, 1874, as follows: For legislative expenses, Seventh session $ 3,347.00 District Attorneys' salaries 7,875.00 Comptroller and Treasurer's salaries 4,375.00 Printing blanks for Comptroller 1,738.00 Rent of office for Clerk Supreme Court 560.00 Miscellaneous items 2,682.51 For keeping prisoners, 2 years 4,320.54 Total $24,898.05 This total covered the current expenses of the Territory for two years, from December 1, 1872, to December 1, 1874. This does not include several thousand dollars interest paid on a bonded debt, and interest owing on unpaid warrants. The Comptroller estimates the whole expense of Territorial government, including the interest on the bonded and warrant debts for the years 1875 and 1876, at $45,632.00. This estimate is sufficient if the brake could be held down hard on the next legislature. The Comptroller's report showed that the Treasurer had on hand money as follows: 190 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO December 1, 1872 $ 8,364.49 Paid into Treasury for 2 yrs. ending Nov. 30, 1874 $74,701.98 Total $83,066.47 The Treasurer paid out: Redeeming general fund warrants $27,958.98 Redeeming prison fund warrants 23,266.76 Sinking fund interest on bonds 16,955.30 School fund warrants 7,552.13 Library and sundries . 576.86 Total disbursement $76,310.03 Dec. 1, 1874, to balance on hand 6,756.44 The Comptroller and Treasurer both report that several of the counties had not paid up their Territorial portion of revenue in full, but when paid, it would be included in their next reports. While the Seventh session did some good work in the way of re- ducing Territorial expenses, they failed to look after the cost of assessing, collecting and remitting the Territory's portion of reve- nue collected in the different counties, leaving that matter in the hands of the different boards of county commissioners (as hereto- fore) to allow the county officer whatever they saw fit to allow, and for the balance to be paid out of the Territorial portion of the county collections and only the balance sent to the Territorial Treasurer. By this method there were two injustices done. First, it made pre- ferred creditors of certain county officers by paying them cash, while all other creditors had to take Territorial warrants which were about twenty to twenty-five per cent discount for cash. Sec- ond, the amount allowed by the different boards of commissioners to the county officers for collecting and apportioning the Territorial portion of revenue, was exorbitant in most all of the counties, as shown by the Comptroller's report, which is as follows: Page 4: "It will be seen that some of the counties make ex- orbitant charges for collecting the Territorial portion of the rev- enue, and that no two charge alike, viz: Alturas County charges 38 per cent Ada County charges 16 per cent Boise County charges 23 per cent Lemhi County charges 45 per cent Idaho County charges 43 per cent Nez Perce County charges 33 per cent Owyhee County charges 21 per cent Oneida County charges 28 per cent Shoshone County charges 36 per cent An average of 31 per cent EIGHTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 191 It would seem that the commissioners of several of the counties were determined to keep as much of the Territorial revenue in their respective counties as possible. The Comptroller's and Treasurer's reports show that on Decem- ber 1, 1874, the indebtedness of the Territory was as follows: Territorial bonds outstanding (coin) $ 65,058.51 Interest on bonds outstanding to date 4,566.95 General fund warrants outstanding (currency) 20,921.01 District Judges' warrants outstanding (currency) . . . 750.00 Interest on above to date (currency) 2,571.19 Prison fund warrants outstanding (currency) 28,017.66 Interest on same to date (currency) 8,400.88 Total indebtedness $130,286.20 Less cash in Treasury 6,756.44 Total indebtedness less cash, Dec. 1, 1874 $123,529-76 This shows a small reduction of the public debt for the past two years, for the first time. The taxpayers were still oppressed, hav- ing to pay the interest on the public debt caused by the extrava- gance of former legislators enacting laws giving extra compensa- tion to themselves and federal officers. They had already paid nearly one hundred per cent interest on this Territorial debt, and the principal was still unpaid, which should have been a warning to future legislators against unnecessary extravagance. PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Below we give some extracts taken from the report of the Super- intendent of Public Instruction, under date of December, 1874: "Whole number of school children in the Territory, between the ages of 5 and 21 years, as reported, was in 1871, 1596; in 1872, 1,909; in 1873, 3,473; in 1874, 4,010." "Statement No. 11, showing a condensed statement of the con- dition of school expenditures, etc., for 1873: SCHOOL STATISTICS. Total number of children between the ages of 5 and 21 years, as per report 3,473 Number attending school 2,170 Number of school districts 61 Number of school houses 52 Number of libraries 3 Number of volumes in school libraries 198 192 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO RECEIPTS FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES. Balance on hand at beginning of school year, 1873..$ 6,666.65 Received from Territory 3,623.91 Received from county taxes 13,797.03 Received from districts 4,318.04 Received from miscellaneous sources 8,816.48 Total $37,222.11 EXPENDITURES. For teachers' salaries $21,840.04 For building, repairs and furniture 5,859-51 For school libraries and apparatus 319-00 For rent, fuel and contingent expenses 1,654.91 To balance on hand 7,548.65 $37,222.11 STATEMENT 3, FOR 1874. Number of children between 5 and 21 years 4,010 No. of children attending schools 2,030 Number of school districts 77 Number of school houses 53 Number of school libraries 3 Number of volumes in libraries 198 RECEIPTS FOR SCHOOL YEAR, 1874. To balance from last year $ 7,548.65 Received from Territory . : 3,855.03 Received from county taxes 13,869.05 Received from district taxes 514.33 Received from miscellaneous sources 5,277.62 Total receipts for 1874 $31,064.68 EXPENDITURES FOR 1874. Amount paid teachers $19,074.12 Amount for building, repairs, furniture, etc 1,649-29 Amount for school libraries and apparatus 10.10 Amount for fuel, rent and contingent expenses 1,053.49 $21,787.00 To balance 9,277-68 $31,064.68 EIGHTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 193 In addition to the number of public schools, there were several private schools taught in the Territory without expense to the county or to the Territory. LEGISLATION AT THE EIGHTH SESSION. This legislature enacted but few new laws. The Secretary of the Territory had prepared what he called a Revision and Compila- tion of all the public laws as then in force in the Territory, from and including each session, from the First to the Seventh. This compilation was presented to the legislature for sale. The legisla- ture bought this manuscript and ordered Territorial warrants is- sued to pay for it, in the sum of three thousand five hundred dol- lars. For some cause, unknown to the writer, the act that author- ized this purchase was not published, but the warrants were issued in December, 1874. (See Comptroller's report for 1875-76, page 8.) It appears that before the close of this session in January, 1875, the members had come to the conclusion that this revision and compilation of the laws was not complete, so they passed another act which was approved January 15, 1875. (See p. 871, Rev. Laws Eighth Session.) This act created a new revising board of com- missioners, consisting of three men, conferring upon them full authority to examine, correct errors and compile as in force, all the laws of the Territory of a public nature, beginning with the First and including the Eighth session (which was the then present ses- sion) and prepare them for publication. This commission was to serve without pay and was to complete their work on or before the first day of March, 1875. Provision was made for printing the Revised Laws, in case Congress failed to pay. An appropriation of $1400 was made, to be paid from the Territorial treasury. A warrant was issued for this amount in July, 1876. (See Comptrol- ler's report for 1875-76, p. 11.) What these commissioners did I do not know, but they evidently did a considerable amount of good work, free of charge. What disposition was made of the money appropriated by Congress to pay for the printing of the laws and journals of the Eighth session we do not know, but we do know the journals were not printed, and only a portion of the laws passed at that session were printed in the Revision of Laws. The Eighth session adjourned on January 15, 1875. The cer- tificate of the Secretary, certifying to the correctness of the laws published, is dated February 1, 1876, but my recollection is that the laws were not ready for distribution until several months later. In addition to the acts mentioned, this Eighth session passed a new revenue act, which was quite lengthy, covering forty-five pages, and a lengthy habaes corpus act that covered seven pages. They Hta 13 194 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO also passed a few acts dissolving the bonds of matrimony between husbands and wives, then adjourned and went home. No doubt they as well as their constituents were glad that the forty days allotted to them in which to make laws had expired, and certainly we are glad to quit writing on this subject. There was something about the purchase and printing of these Revised Laws that never was shown to the light of day. CHAPTER XLI. PROGRESS MADE BY THE PEOPLE IN IDAHO FROM 1878 TO 1877. For the four years between 1873 and 1877, we can say but lit- tle, as there were no great improvements made and nothing of a startling nature took place. IMMIGRATION AND AGRICULTURE. During these four years, Idaho's adult population did not in- crease any. A few people came in, but fully as many left. Neither did taxable property increase any. The Comptroller's report shows the amount of property assessed in the Territory for the four years as follows: In 1873, $4,363,582; in 1874, $4,513,022; in 1875, $4,652,919; in 1876, $4,381,277. During these four years, the number of poll taxes collected fell off from 4,924 in 1873, to 3,151 in 1876. Some little improvement was made in agriculture, a few new locations were made and some fruit trees set out, and some new land put in cultivation. MINING. This industry had not been nearly so prosperous the past four years as in previous years, owing mainly to the fact that many of the once best paying placer mining claims had been worked out. There were a number of gold and silver quartz ledges in the Ter- ritory that prospected well, but it was difficult to get sufficient cap- ital to open them up and put up the necessary machinery to work them successfully. The output from the mines for the four years of which we are speaking, fell off considerably from what it had been in former years. STOCK RAISING. This industry had been fairly good, so far as increase in num- bers is concerned, but the supply was greater than the home mar- ket could consume, so the price of all stock went down to a much lower figure than in former years. There was no near transporta- tion to carry stock to distant markets, and the distance was too great to drive overland. The stock business was not as profitable as in former years. TRANSPORTATION OF MERCHANDISE. Merchandise transportation was still carried on, in most parts of the Territory, by means of large wagons and teams of either 196 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO horses, mules or oxen, mostly from Kelton, on the Central Pacific railroad. These freight outfits generally consisted of three wa- gons, coupled together, and drawn by ten horses or ten mules or by five to seven yoke of oxen. Quite a large number of teams were engaged in this business, and the rate per pound for trans- portation was greatly reduced, owing to the great number en- gaged in the business. So but few made any money in the freight- ing business during these four years. Some little packing on mules was still carried on into the mountain mining camps where there were no wagon roads, but this was very limited. TRANSPORTATION OF U. 8. MAILS AND PASSENGERS. This business was carried on over all the principal routes in Southern Idaho by the Northwestern Stage Company. They gave good service, had good mail pay, which, in connection with their express and passenger business, made a good and profitable busi- ness for them. But on the whole, these four years from 1872 to 1877 may be put down among the dullest years in the history of Idaho. Little or no progress was made. CHAPTER XLII. NINTH SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE OP IDAHO CONVENED AT BOISE CITY, DECEMBER 4, 1876 ADJOURNED JANUARY 12, 1877. The names of the members were as follows: COUNCIL. I. N. Coston Ada County W. T. Baker Ada County R. A. Sidebotham Alturas County William Budge Bear Lake County E. A. Stevenson Boise County J. V. R. Witt Boise County S. P. C. Howard Idaho County E. T. Beatty Lemhi County W. G. Langford Nez Perce County L. P. Higbee Oneida County R. Tregaskis Owyhee County F. C. Porter Owyhee County D. W. C. Dunwell Shoshone County President, E. T. Beatty. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. F. K. Froman Ada County Thomas Gray Ada County H. K. Hartley Ada County J. F. Griffin Ada County B. L. Warriner Ada County T. J. Curtis Alturas County C. K. Davis Alturas County James H. Hart Bear Lake County Stephen Dempsey Boise County M. G. Luna Boise County John H. Myer Boise County George W. Richards Boise County I. S. Weiler Boise County Phil. Cleary Idaho County Jesse McCaleb Lemhi County L. C. Morse Lemhi County S. P. Edwards Nez Perce County F. Points Nez Perce County J. N. High Oneida County 198 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO W. T. Norcross Oneida County P. A. Tutt Owyhee County R. L. Wood Owyhee County Ed. H. Moore Owyhee County G. W. Gilmore Owyhee County John Ward Owyhee County Ed Hammond - Shoshone County Speaker, T. J. Curtis. The Comptroller's report covering the time from December 1, 1874, to December 1, 1876, shows that he drew warrants during that time as follows: Against the general fund $20,590.90 Against prison fund 10,796.57 Total amount drawn $31,387.47 Add to this contingent expenses of Treasurer 537-62 Judges' warrants in favor of attorneys 454.76 Total $32,379.85 This covers the whole amount of the current expenses of the Ter- ritory for two years other than that which the United States paid. But the worst is yet to come. That old bonded and floating war- rant, interest-bearing debt which was created under the extra pay acts of the legislature several years previously, was drawing an- nual interest of $12,500 or about $25,000 every two years, which was oppressive when we take into consideration the small amount of taxable property in the Territory. The Comptroller's report shows the amount of assessable prop- erty for the year 1875 in the Territory to have been $4,652,919.13, and for the year 1876, $4,381,277.46.* The interest on the bonded debt had to be paid twice a year in gold coin or its equivalent. Other outstanding warrants were paid according to their issue and register, out of the respective funds on which they were drawn, when there was money in the fund with which to pay. All drew interest from the date of their registration at the rate of ten per cent per annum until paid. Warrants drawn on the general fund were at this time (1876) about three years behind, and warrants against the prison fund about five years behind. The Territorial Treasurer's report shows: December 1, 1874, balance on hand $ 9,676.77 December 1, 1876, whole amount received from all sources for two years 61,674.28 Total amount received $71,351.05 NINTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 199 Disbursements for the two years: General fund warrants redeemed $19,570.81 Prison fund warrants redeemed 16,085.90 Interest on bonds 15,724.22 School fund warrants redeemed 3,840.74 Library fund warrants redeemed 274.63 $55,496.30 Balance in treasury 15,854.75 Total $71,351.05 From this balance reported on hand, there should be deducted $2,920.33, which is a shortage which occurred several years prior to the time of which we are writing. It had not been replaced, so the real balance on hand December 1, 1876, was only $12,934.42. Territorial debt as shown by Treasurer's report, December 1, 1876: Bonded coin debt with interest $ 71,386.45 General fund warrants with interest 36,338.89 Prison fund warrants with interest 36,122.68 Total debt $143,848.02 Less amount in treasury 12,934.42 Debt less cash in treasury $130,913.60 This shows an increase of Territorial debt over what it was two years prior to this time of $7,383.84, which looked discouraging. Most of this increase in debt was caused by the Eighth session purchasing what purported to be a revision of our laws at a cost of $3,500, and $1,400 paid for printing, making $4,900 issued in warrants on account of revision of laws, which was far from being complete in respect to what it purported to be. It increased the Territorial debt to a considerable extent, giving some little benefit. The report of the Superintendent of Public Schools shows that fairly good progress was being made in the public schools. A de- tailed statement would be quite lengthy and not very interesting at this late date. LEGISLATION. This Ninth session passed several important acts, among which was one amendment to the revenue law for assessing and collect- ing county and Territorial revenue. This act imposed,, a quarterly license tax on all common carriers of gold dust, bullion, gold or WO THE HISTORY OF IDAHO silver coin. They passed another act authorizing county commis- sioners to levy annually a tax for school purposes on all property in each county (not exempt) of not less than five mills nor more than eight mills on the dollar, also for all fines and forfeitures to be paid into the public school fund. Several acts were passed reducing salaries and fees of county officers, all of which tended to reduce the burden of taxation in the different counties. In the back part of the volume containing the laws passed at the Ninth session in 1876 and 1877, can be found nineteen acts which were passed at the Eighth session in 1874 and 1875. Some of these acts are important. Why they were" not pub- lished with the Eighth Session Laws, I do not know. This legislature passed an act repealing the old system by which county officers were allowed to retain out of the Territorial portion of money collected, whatever the commissioners of the county would allow them. This old system was not uniform. Some of the officials retained out of the Territorial portion of the tax and license money as high as 45 per cent, and none less than 16 per cent. The uniform rate fixed by this law was as follows : Assessor and tax collector, 6 per cent; treasurer, 3 per cent; auditor, 3 per cent, making the total amount to be retained by county officers 12 per cent, which reduced the cost of assessing and collecting about one-half. Another bill enacted by this legislature provided that 85 per cent of all the county money of Ada county should be placed in a fund to be called a redemption fund, to be used for the purpose of pay- ing all outstanding warrants according to their register. The other 65 per cent was to go into a fund called the current expense fund, to be used, or as much of it as was necessary, to pay the current expenses of the county. This law had the effect of putting the county business for the first time on a cash basis. Everything the county had to purchase was furnished for less than one-half of what they formerly had to pay. Anyone selling warrants for fifty cents on the dollar heretofore, could now go to the treasury and and get the cash. Outstanding warrants amounting to about $80,- 000, which were drawing interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum, but they had been bought up for from forty-five to fifty cents on the dollar. The interest and premium when redeemed, paid the investor well, and they were all redeemed in less than three years after the passage of the act referred to above. CHAPTER XLIII. INDIAN WAR THE WAR WITH CHIEF JOSEPH AND HIS BAND OF NEZ PERCE INDIANS IN THE YEAR 1877- These Indian wars are always unpleasant remembrances, for they have always been destructive of life and property. The In- dian is a curious being. If he thinks he has been wrongfully treated by the Government, or by any officer, agent, or other per- son, he does not often seek to get revenge on the person or per- sons who inflicted the injury, but usually makes a murderous as- sault on the first white people he comes in contact with, regardless of guilt or innocence, or of age or sex. It is often that the inno- cent have had to pay the penalty of a cruel death at the hands of the Indians for some real or imagined wrong done by our Gov- ernment, or by some other person. Such, we think, was the case in the war of 1877. In one respect most Indian chiefs are like most white men, when they once acquire power by getting into a high official position they seldom if ever want to surrender that power. Large tribes of Indians often split up or divide into two or more bands. Each of these bands selects its leader, who is commonly called the chief of the band. When these divisions come in tribes of Indians, they are usually caused by some ambitious young warrior tfno wants to be chief, and he usually moves away from where the main tribe and old chief live, and selects some place as a home or headquarters for himself and all of his fol- lowers. This seems to have been the case with Chief Joseph. He and his followers were Nez Perce Indians, but had separated them- selves from the main tribe many years ago and set up for them- selves. They would, however, sometimes visit with the main tribe, and many of them were present at the time a treaty of peace was made between the Nez Perce tribe and the United States Govern- ment in 1855, through the agency of Hon. I. I. Stevens, at that time Governor of Washington Territory and ex-officio Superintendent of Indian affairs for that Territory. At that time the father of the present Chief Joseph was chief of the band of Indians about whom we are writing. The treaty did not include within its boundary lines any portion of the land that he claimed as his home. The reservation set apart for the Nez Perce Indians under the provisions of this treaty of 1855 was all on the northeast side of Snake River, then in Wash- THE HISTORY OF IDAHO ington Territory, now in Idaho, and Joseph and his band claimed as their home quite a large tract of country in the northeastern por- tion of Oregon, on the opposite side of Snake River, embracing what are known as the Grande Ronde and Wallowa Valleys. This treaty made in 1855 was changed or amended in 1863 so that the Nez Perce Indian reservation was reduced somewhat in size, but still left abundantly large for all, and in consideration of the ces- sion of the Indian title to all land outside of the reservation, our Government provided them with schools, and a large amount of annuities for a number of years, consisting of clothing, blankets, provisions, farming implements, etc. It appears, however, that Chief Joseph and his band still refused to sign or accept any of the provisions of the treaty, or to accept any of the annuities aris- ing therefrom, but still stuck up for their old home and accepted nothing from our Government. In 1862 white people began to set- tle in Grande Ronde Valley. Two small towns started, La Grande on the west side, and Uniontown on the southeast side of the valley. Joseph and his followers gradually retreated farther east and made their headquarters near Snake River, and in the Wallowa Valley. Things went on without serious trouble until, in the early seven- ties, white people began to settle in Wallowa Valley, believing they had a right to settle there and make homes. No objections were made by our Government to this settlement, but it was not long be- fore friction arose between the whites and the Indians, each claim- ing the land as their own. Finally some United States troops were sent there for a time to keep peace between the white settlers and the Indians, and to try to persuade the Indians to go peaceably to the Nez Perce Indian reservation, but all efforts seemed to fail. They claimed that country was and had been their home before white men ever came there, and that they had never sold their right to the land to our Government, and that they would stay in their own home. It appears that Chief Joseph received orders from some Govern- ment official early in May, 1877, for him to move with his band of Indians from Wallowa Valley, Oregon, to the Nez Perce Indian reservation in Idaho by June 14th. Now comes the critical point. These Indians must leave what they at least called their home, which they had occupied in their Indian style for many years, or else they would be taken away by force and put on the Nez Perce reservation where they did not want to go. They doubtless felt that they had not been treated right, and were filled with a spirit of revenge, and, as we have said before, when Indians think they have been wronged they do not seek the parties who committed the wrong, but take revenge on the first whites they meet. The In- INDIAN WAR OF 1877 203 dians left their country about the 10th or llth of June, 1877, crossed Snake River to the Idaho side, thence on to the Salmon River and crossed over on the 13th of June to where the country was thinly settled by good, peaceful white citizens, who were at- tending to their peaceful avocations, and swooped down on them and commenced an indiscriminate slaughter of these people who had never harmed them in any way. They deliberately murdered in a cruel manner seventeen persons, fifteen men and one woman and her child, and wounded a number of others who made their escape by running to the brush and hiding through the day, and traveling by night without food for several days until they reached Mt. Idaho about forty miles distant. The Indians ransacked the settlers' houses, then burned the houses and barns and drove off their horses and cattle. They then moved farther on into the unprotected set- tlement and killed and wounded a few more settlers before they could get away, burning their houses and barns and driving off their stock. This outbreak caused great excitement in Idaho and Nez Perce counties. The citizens organized volunteer companies as quickly as possible for the protection of the citizens residing in the fron- tier settlements. They were gathered into and near the town of Mt. Idaho as soon as possible. In this work of gathering in the settlers, the volunteers had several engagements with the hostile Indians. A few more of the settlers and volunteers were killed, and quite a number were wounded. This was a serious and trying time for the unprotected settlers in Idaho County. There appears to have been three other small bands of these non-treaty Indians besides Joseph's band: Chief Lookingglass' band, living on Clear Creek, a tributary of Clearwater River; Chief White Bird's band, living on Salmon River; and the old Dreamer Chief, Tchulhulsote's small band, living on Snake River. None of these Indians had ever made their home on the Nez Perce reservation. All of these three bands joined Joseph's band. It appears that General Howard was at Fort Lapwai at the time of this outbreak (which fort is on the Nez Perce reservation), but that Joseph and others of his tribe had promised the General that they would move peaceably on to the reservation by June 14th, and the General relied on their keep- ing their promise. General Howard says that the first inkling of something wrong came to Fort Lapwai on June 14th through L. P. Brown. At 7 a. m. on June 15, 1877, L. P. Brown wrote and sent by special messenger, Mr. West, a letter stating "that the Indians had gone on the warpath and killed or wounded several whites who had started to go from Cottonwood to Mt. Idaho. A report says some whites have been killed on Salmon River. A number of THE HISTORY OF IDAHO * families have come to Mt. Idaho for protection, but they had but few arms there to protect them with." He urged that troops and arms be sent at once. "You cannot imagine the people in a worse condition than what they are here." At 8 a. m., June 15, 1877, Mr. L. P. Brown writes to command- ing officer at Fort Lapwai as follows: "Send letters by friendly Indian, Lookingglass's brother, the parties that started from Cot- tonwood have been brought in. The wounded are Mr. Day, mortally ; Mrs. Norton, both legs broken; Moore, shot through the hip; Mr. Norton, killed and left in the road six miles from Mt. Idaho. Teamsters attacked on road, wagons abandoned and plun- dered and horses taken by Indians. Indians have possession of Camas Prairie. Lose no time in getting force of men here. Stop stage and other travel on road unless they have strong force. Hurry up, we need help." General Howard sent a brief communication to Mr. Brown concerning the dispatch of two companies of cavalry, and enjoined on him to cheer the people. Colonel Perry was dispatched forth- with to the scene of trouble with ninety men, all that could be spared from the fort. Captain Wilkinson and Lieutenant Bomus were sent post haste to Walla Walla with messages for more troops from Walla Walla and Portland, and also with request for twenty- five scouts from General McDowell at San Francisco. We must now turn to the Salmon River country and see what has been happening there. On June 13th several Indians came down from the Prairie to Mr. Manuel's ranch (situated on a small stream that empties into the Salmon River, and about twenty miles south of Grangeville) . They seemed friendly, and used Manuel's grindstone to sharpen their knives and other tools, these acts arous- ing no suspicion. Late in the afternoon three young buck Indians went to the house of Mr. Cone up the river above Manuel's. Two of these Indians belonged to the Salmon River or White Bird band, and the other one to Joseph's tribe. They wanted bread and am- munition. They were given bread, but young Cone was short of ammunition and could not supply them. They seemed friendly and said they were on a huting expedition and went on up the river. Richard Devine, an old gentleman, lived on the Salmon River some six miles above the John Day creek, which is a few miles above White Bird creek. This old man had never had any trouble with the Indians. He was the possessor of a very fine rifle, and a few days later he was found dead near his door and his rifle was gone. It is supposed that these three Indians camped close to his house on the night of the 13th of June, and when he came out next morning he was shot and killed by them and his rifle taken. On INDIAN WAR OF 1877 205 the morning of June 14th these same three Indians, who had been seen to pass Mr. Elfer's ranch at the mouth of John Day Creek, came back that way and shot and killed Mr. Elfer, Mr. Bland and Mr. Bickrage while they were on their way from their house to the hay field to work. They were shot down in cold blood without the least notice or warning. The Indians then took some fine horses belonging to Mr. Elfers to ride, went to the house where Mrs. El- fers was, took Mr. Elfers' rifle, and went on below. They did not disturb Mrs. Elfers, nor did she know that they had killed her hus- band and the other men until they were gone, as the killing took place out of sight of the house. Soon after, some neighbors came in and reported to her what had happened. On the way down the river the Indians shot and wounded Mr. Samuel Benedict, near the mouth of White Bird Creek, but he succeeded in getting away and reaching his house. It appears that these three Indians, flushed with the blood of innocent white people, then went to the main camp of the Indians at what is called Rocky Canyon, situated nearly midway between White Bird Creek and Grangeville, and reported what they had done, and were re-inforced by fifteen or twenty more Indians, and they all returned to White Bird Creek. Mr. Manuel, whose resi- dence was on this creek, had heard of the attack made on Mr. Benedict that morning (June 14th) and had started on horseback, with his family, to go to some place of greater safety. They had gone only a short distance when the Indians attacked them. Mr. Manuel and his daughter seven years old were riding the same horse. He was shot and badly wounded. They both fell from the horse and he rolled down the hill and hid from the Indians among some rocks. One man, Mr. Baker, was killed. Mrs. Man- uel and her baby were thrown from their horse and injured. They and the daughter were taken back to the house by the Indians. The daughter had been shot and wounded with an arrow, and had one arm broken in the fall from the horse. It is said that the In- dians promised Mrs. Manuel that if she would give them Mr. Man- uel's gun and all the ammunition he had, they would not molest her. This she did, but soon after more Indians came in, and one who was said to be Chief Joseph, plunged a knife into Mrs. Man- uel's breast and killed her instantly. This was done in the presence of her little seven year old daughter. They also killed her ten months old babe. Two other men, Mr. Popham, an old man, and Mr. Price, were at the Manuel ranch when this trouble occurred, but they concealed themselves so the Indians did not find them. The next day Mr. Price took the little seven year old girl and started for Mt. Idaho. She had no clothing except her night clothes, THE HISTORY OF IDAHO the Indians having ransacked the house and taken everything. They returned later and burned the Manuel home with the dead bodies of Mrs. Manuel and the baby. Mr. Manuel wandered alone in the brush and rocks, getting nothing to eat except a few berries, for thirteen days, with his almost fatal wounds, one through the hips with a rifle ball, the other in the neck from an arrow. He pulled the arrow out, and dressed his wounds the best he could. On the thirteenth day he was found by a soldier and taken to Mt. Idaho, where he recovered. Mr. Price and Manuel's daughter arrived at Mt. Idaho safely after a hard trip and much suffering. The daughter also finally recovered. Mr. Popham, after several days' struggling through the brush and mountains, reached Mt. Idaho safely. After leaving Mr. Manuel's ranch the Indians went to the mouth of White Bird Creek, where Mr. Benedict lived and had a store. It will be remembered that they had shot and wounded him when out earlier in the day, but that he had made his escape and got home. Here they found him and August Bacon and killed them both. Mrs. Benedict escaped and made her way to Mt. Idaho. The Indians then started for H. C. Brown's store, one mile down the Salmon River. Brown saw them coming, took his wife, and with Andrew Bensching made his escape in a small boat across Salmon River. They remained in the timbered mountains for several days, but were finally rescued by a party under H. C. Johnson. The Indians spent the night of the 14th at Brown's ranch, where they helped themselves to everything they wanted in the house and store, including liquors. They then went to the Osborn ranch, which is a few miles toward Grangeville. There were several fam- ilies at that place. The Indians killed Mr. Osborn, Mr. Mason and Francois Chodazo, after which the women, Mrs. Mason, Mrs. Os- born, Mrs. Walch, and several children fell into the hands of the Indians, and it is said that the Indians treated these women shame- fully. Finally they allowed them to go, and they were met by a Mr. Shoemaker who had escaped, and assisted by him to Mt. Idaho. After plundering the houses and stores of everything they wanted, the Indians burned nearly all the houses and some of the barns on the ranches. Late in the afternoon of the 14th, Arthur Chapman, who re- sided a few miles northwest of Mt. Idaho, received word of the outbreak of the Indians on Salmon River from an Indian boy, and at once went to Mt. Idaho and reported the news. L. P. Brown desired to send another dispatch to Lapwai and Lew Day volun- teered to take it. After passing Cottonwood he was attacked by two Indians and wounded so severely that he turned back and INDIAN WAR OF 1877 207 stopped at the Cottonwood house, kept by B. B. Norton. There he found Mr. and Mrs. Norton and son Hill, John Chamberlain, wife and two children, Miss Linn Bowers and Joseph Moore. They all immediately prepared to start to Mt. Idaho, a distance of about twenty miles. They got started about ten p. m., Norton and Moore on horseback, and the rest in a wagon. After traveling about ten miles, the Indians came upon them and first shot down the horses ridden by Norton and Moore, who jumped into the wagon, and then began a race for life. Soon the team was shot down, the In- dians were on them. Miss Bowers and the little boy, Hill Norton, made their escape in the dark. Mr. Chamberlan and wife and two children attempted to escape in the same way, but were discovered by the Indians. Mr. Chamberlain and his little boy were killed, the other child was snatched from the mother's arms and a piece of its tongue was cut off and it was wounded in the neck with a knife and left alone on the prairie. The poor, crazed mother was then treated outrageously by the Indians. Mr. Norton and wife re- mained at the wagon, also Mr. Day and Mr. Moore. Norton was shot and died in a few minutes. Mrs. Norton was shot through both legs, but crawled between the dead horses and remained there until morning. Moore was shot through the hips. Day had two bullets in the shoulder and one in the leg. At daylight the Indians withdrew. Miss Bowers and little Hill Norton had become separated in their flight in the dark, but both kept traveling, steering their course as nearly as they could in the dark for Mt. Idaho. Little Hill was found next morning about daylight about four miles northwest of Mt. Idaho, by Hon. F. A. Fenn, who was out scouting, and he took the boy on his horse to Crook's ranch, where a general alarm was given. Miss Bowers was found about nine o'clock in the morn- ing by J. A. Swarts two miles from Mt. Idaho, and was taken to that place. At the Cook's ranch, where Grangeville now stands, F. A. Fenn, C. L. Rice and James Atkinson set out for the scene of the last night's attack. Soon after they arrived there they were set upon by Indians, but fortunately very soon a larger party came to their relief and the Indians withdrew. They gathered all of the victims of the massacre and put them in the wagon, hitched their saddle horses to the wagon and hauled them to Mt. Idaho. Mr. Chamber- lain and his two little children were found about a quarter of a mile from the wagon. He lay with the little ones in his arms, and he and one child were dead. Mrs. Chamberlain was picked up half a mile away. Mrs. Norton, Mr. Day and Mr. Moore were all alive but badly wounded. Mr. Norton was dead. Mr. Day died the 808 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO following afternoon, Mr. Moore lived about six weeks and died from the effects of the wounds he had received; Mrs. Norton, Mrs. Chamberlain and child eventually recovered. Dr. J. B. Morris, physician of the Prairie people, was at Lewis- ton, but hearing of the outbreak he rode through alone, seventy- five miles, to Mt. Idaho, making fast time and facing great dan- ger. He deserves the highest commendation for his energy, brav- ery and devotion to the people of the Prairie. He remained at Mt. Idaho and attended all the wounded during the war, for which service the United States Government should remunerate him. On the night of the Norton massacre two freighters, Peter H. Ready and Lew Willmot, with two four-horse wagons loaded with general merchandise, were camped on the road between Cotton- wood and Mt. Idaho. They were warned of the danger by the Norton party as they passed, but they remained in their camp until daylight, then pulled out for Mt. Idaho. They had gone but a short distance when they saw the Indians coming. Each one cut a horse loose from the wagon and mounting, outran the Indians and escaped. They went to their homes and got their guns and joined the party going after the Norton and Chamberlain families. The Indians looted the freight wagons of all they wanted and packed away the goods on the teamsters' horses which were left at the wagons. Thus within a few days after this outbreak the Indians had murdered about twenty good citizens, wounded several others, out- raged and fearfully abused several noble, good mothers. They had plundered and burned ten dwellings, three stores, a number of miners' cabins, seven barns and shops, captured two freight outfits loaded with merchandise, stolen and driven away several hundred head of cattle and horses belonging to the white settlers, and up to this time not an Indian had been hurt or injured in any way by the white settlers. In fact, the Indians murdered, outraged and robbed them without cause or warning. The whites had given them no cause for complaint and had no reason to expect an attack from them, and were all attending to their respective vocations and wholly unprepared to meet the murderous assault. Think of our Government keeping troops at so many places at heavy expense for the protection of the frontier settlers, and at this critical time, when Joseph and others had been ordered to move on the Nez Perce reservation against their wish, not a soldier placed on any portion of the route over which they were expected to move, to protect the white settlers residing on and adjacent to the route, nor none nearer than ninety miles of the danger line. There were, in fact, but few that close, and no railroad or telegraph lines. It does INDIAN WAR OF 1877 209 seem that too much reliance was placed in these treacherous In- dians, and not sufficient precaution taken to see that they moved on- to the reservation in an orderly way, without molesting the peace- ful settlers or their property. We leave the reader to determine where the blame, if any, should rest. But, as we have stated before, General Howard started Colonel Perry from Fort Lapwai on the night of the 15th for the scene of the trouble, with about ninety men, and sent to Walla Walla and other posts for more troops. From Lapwai to the scene of the first trouble is about ninety miles. Colonel Perry reached Grange- ville late in the afternoon of the 16th. (This place is fifteen or twenty miles short of where the outbreak commenced.) Here he rested a short time and consulted with some volunteer settlers, then, in company with eleven volunteers commanded by the late Major George M. Shearer, started for the locality where the first mur- ders were committed. They arrived near White Bird Creek about daylight on the morning of June 17th. Here they discovered a few Indians in a rough canyon with rough, rocky and brushy sides. We cannot give the full particulars of the battle that followed soon after their arrival, but suffice it to say that the Indians seem to have played some kind of a ruse to get Colonel Perry down in the canvon, while the volunteers went on the opposite side of the canyon. The troops had not gone far before the Indians opened fire on them from all sides where they were concealed behind the brush and rocks. Several of the soldiers fell at the first firing, and the others seeing their comrades falling from the firing, and not being able to see the Indians, became frightened and ran away. The Indians kept firing at them with the result that 8 6 of the 90 soldiers were killed or left on the battlefield, and no Indians were hurt that were ever heard of. The Indians also poured a hot fire into the eleven volunteers but they escaped by a trail, with two of their number wounded. They made their way to Mt. Idaho, got more volunteers and returned and helped Colonel Perry fight his way back to Grangeville. The Indians kept up a firing at them at long range until they were within four miles of Grangeville. This was a complete victory for them as they had killed about forty per cent of Perry's men, captured forty or fifty guns and a good supply of ammunition, and had lost nothing. So far they had had everything their own way, and must have been very much elated over their success in the destruction of life and property. Colonel Perry reorganized his troops at Grangeville and put them in as good condition as he could for further action. During this time General Howard was at Lapwai waiting for more troops he had sent for to come from the several military posts. As soon His-14 210 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO as the Norton party was brought in, the people of Mt. Idaho or- ganized a company of volunteers, and every man or boy able to bear arms or work was enlisted. Arthur Chapman was selected captain for the volunteers, and a retired English naval officer named H. E. Croasdale was put in charge of the fort they built for the protection of the women, children and wounded. The people of Grangeville also built a fortification for protection, and a company of volunteers was organized by Captain Bloomer. At Slate Creek, near the Salmon where the trail leaves the river for Florence, where there were quite a number of women and children and not many men, the people built a stockade, this being the danger line. Men and arms were scarce. The people there prevailed on a friendly Indian woman to go to Florence, a mining camp twenty-five miles distant in the mountains, for help. This Indian woman, whose name was Too-Lah, was a friendly Nez Perce. She was faithful to the trust and returned very shortly with twenty-five men, well armed, to help guard and protect the people at Slate Creek. The people at Warrens on the south side of the Salmon also built forts for protection. Elk City at the northeast, a mining camp, had quite a number of men but few arms; in fact, there were but few arms among the settlers in any part of the country. About the 17th the people all over Nez Perce County became alarmed, including the people in Lewiston, the head of navigation and the base of all supplies. It was feared that the success that Joseph and Look- ingglass had met with might induce all the Indians in the country to join them and raid the town of Lewiston. As they had but few arms with which to protect themselves, they sent to Portland, Ore- gon, for arms and ammunition, and Captain Ed McConville organ- ized a company of sixty men on short notice for the protection of life and property at Lewiston and in that vicinity. By the 21st of June eight small companies of the United States army, numbering only about 200 men, had gathered into Lapwai, and a small company of volunteers under Captain Paige, who had joined under Captain Whipple in command of the cavalry, were on hard to fight Indians. Captain Paige was from Walla Walla and had about twenty-five volunteers in his company. General Howard wa r ; all ready, and starting with his command from Fort Lapwai at noon on June 22nd, on the afternoon of the 23rd he arrived at Cottonwood, Mr. Norton's place, which had been abandoned on the night of the 14th. It appears that he rested here the next day and obtained such information as he could. On the 25th he sent the infantry south to Johnson's ranch and he with the cavalry went to Grangeville, where was Colonel Perry's command. After visiting Mt. Idaho for information, the General returned to Grangeville and INDIAN WAR OF 1877 211 proceeded with his command to Johnson's ranch where the infan- try had been sent. At 6:30 next morning, June 26th, the command marched to the scene of Perry's defeat at White Bird canyon, doubtless for the double purpose of looking for Indians, and to buiy the Perry soldiers who had fallen there a week before. While the soldiers buried their dead comrades, Captain Paige and his volunteers, guided by Capt. Arthur Chapman, scoured the country and found that the Indians had crossed the Salmon River to the west bank, where the country is mountainous and heavily timbered. Here on June 26th appears to have been the location of the contending forces. General Howard with his force, consisting of about 200 regrlars and perhaps 100 volunteers, all well armed and supplied, was on the east side of Salmon River near the mouth of White Bird Cr ek, while Joseph and White Bird were on the west side of Sal- mon River, with about 150 warriors, and encumbered with all of their women and children and household traps, and about 1,500 head of loose horses and cattle. From the junction of White Bird Creek and Salmon River it is about twenty-five miles to where Sal- mon River empties into Snake River. The general course of both these streams over this distance is north, running almost parallel to each other, until within a few miles of the junction, where the Sal- mon turns to the west and makes its junction with Snake River. The average distance between these two streams from White Bird to the junction is about ten or twelve miles. The Indians have an old trail down between these two streams to a point on the Salmon River about fifteen miles below White Bird, and the crossing there, commonly called the Craig or old Billie Crossing, was considered about the best place in the country to cross Salmon River. Near the east bank of the river here are craggy rocks behind which a few men could conceal themselves and pick off Indians while cross- ing, without danger. There is a good trail from this crossing on to Craig Mountain, to the main road leading from Lewiston to Camas Prairie. After it had been discovered for certain that the Indians were on the west side of Salmon River, the volunteers held a consultation as to what course was best to pursue, all being well acquainted with the geography of the country, and familiar with the customs of the Indians. They unanimously agreed upon a plan of operation, and appointed Hon. Frank A. Fenn, Joseph Peasley and John Mc- Pherson to wait on General Howard and lay their plan of operation before him, expecting, of course, it would be approved by him and put into execution. The committee proceeded to perform the duty assigned it, and laid before the General their plan, which was for him to send twenty or thirty men, some soldiers and some volun- THE HISTORY OF IDAHO teers, to the Craig or Billie Crossing, where they were to conceal themselves. The General and the rest of the command were to cross the Salmon River near the White Bird, go behind the Indians and attack them, when they would naturally follow down the trail to the crossing named. Pursued by the General to the crossing and prevented from crossing by the men concealed on the east bank, the Indians would be bagged and would either have to surrender or be killed. There can be no doubt that if this plan had been adopted and put into execution, the war would have been ended in a few days, but, says Mr. Fenn, "He politely listened to us and then bowed us out, with the remark that he was capable of managing his own campaign." This committee explained to the General how, if he crossed the river, the Indians would most surely go below to the Craig cross- ing and cross back, and when back they could raid the people in both Idaho and Nez Perce counties. Having some knowledge of the country we are writing about, we cannot conceive why this plan of operations was rejected by the General. We know that Mr. Fenn's statement is correct and the plan was the best that could have been devised. But it was rejected, and the General crossed over the Salmon River with all of his command, except Captain Whipple with his small company, who had been left at the Norton House on the Cottonwood, where the road from Lewiston comes down from Craig's Mountain to Camas Prairie. Events soon proved that the plan suggested by Mr. Fenn and others was the right one, for as soon as the Indians found that Gen- eral Howard and his main force was on the same side of the Salmon River that they were, they moved down to the Craig Billie Cross- ing, crossed over, took the trail for the wagon road on Craig's Mountain, and thence down near the Norton House where Whipple was stationed, and killed thirteen of his soldiers. It appears that General Howard remained on the west side of the Salmon River until the Indians went down and crossed back and went up to the Norton House and killed thirteen of Whipple's men, then a message was sent to General Howard by Peter H. Ready, telling him where the Indians were and what they had done. The General seems to have followed the Indians to the Craig Billie Crossing but they were over and gone before he got there and he could not or did not cross after them, but went back up to the White Bird, where they had boats, crossed back and went through the Prairie by way of Grangeville, the same route he traveled when going out, reaching Grangeville on July 9th. When Captain Whipple was left in Camas Prairie at the time General Howard started to the front on the Salmon, he had been INDIAN WAR OF 1877 818 instructed by the General to try to gather in Lookingglass and his band who were camped upon a creek called Clear Creek, a tribu- tary of Clearwater River, northeast of Mt. Idaho, as they were sup- posed to be still friendly to the whites, and have them come to Mt. Idaho and remain under the care and protection of the volun- teers, to prevent them from joining Joseph. Soon after General Howard left for the front, Captain Whipple with a detachment of his men and a few volunteers went cautiously to the camp of Look- ingglass, very early in the morning. A peace talk was in progress, most of the men remaining back some distance from the camp, when to the surprise of all a bugle sounded which flustrated the Indians, and a little later some person among those remaining at a distance, fired a shot into the Indian camp. The shot was said to have been fired by a man named Washington Holmes, who had a half-breed wife. Be that as it may, the firing of the shot alarmed the Indians so that they scattered and the council was broken up. The Indians under Lookingglass soon after joined Joseph's band and went on the warpath. Captain Whipple returned to Cottonwood. After arriving there he sent two scouts, Foster and Blewitt, in the direc- tion of the Craig Billie Crossing to see if there was any sign of Indians. After going several miles they saw Indians driving horses. They turned back, but were pursued by Indians firing at them. Blewitt's horse fell, presumably from a shot. He took to the brush and Foster pushed on safely to camp. Captain Whipple immediate- ly sent Lieutenant Rains with ten soldiers and the scout Foster to try to find Blewitt and to learn all he could about the Indians. He had not gone more than a mile or two before they were attacked by the Indians. Captain Whipple started as soon as he heard the shooting, with some men. On arriving at the scene he found the Indians in large numbers and that they had already killed part of Lieutenant Rains' men, and had the balance so completely in their grasp, and outnumbered his men so much, that he concluded it was useless for him to try to rescue the remainder of Lieutenat Rains' men. He therefore kept out of close range, and Lieutenant Rains, his men and the scouts were all shot down by the Indians. Captain Whipple and his detachment went back to camp. These operations appear to have taken place on July 3rd. That night a courier arrived informing Whipple that Colonel Perry was on the road from Lapwai to Cottonwood with a pack train loaded with supplies, and wanted more protection. Early in the morning of July 4th Whipple went out with some men, met Perry nine miles out, and came into Cottonwood safely with the pack train. About noon that day, according to Whipple, the In- dians began to gather and soon had the camp of Cottonwood sur- 814 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO rounded, and for hours they made frantic efforts to dislodge the soldiers. Every man of the command was kept on the line during the afternoon rifle pits having been dug at a little distance from the Cottonwood House. About sundown the Indians withdrew for the night. Colonel Perry was now in command at Cottonwood. On the morning of July 5th Lieutenant D. B. Randall of the volunteers, with sixteen of his men, left Mt. Idaho for the Cottonwood House to assist the United States troops in repelling the Indians. When within less than two miles of their destination, in plain view of the troops at the Cottonwood House, Lieutenant Randall was attacked by about 150 Indians, whose line of attack was formed so as to cut the volunteers off from going to the Cottonwood House. The Lieu- tenant and his men charged through the Indian lines, securing the best place they could for a stand, dismounted and commenced to defend themselves against the superior force of Indians as best brave men could, believing that Colonel Perry would soon come with his troops to their assistance. He did not come. One of the Lieutenant's men, F. D. Vansise, escaped and rode in for help, but Colonel Perry seemed to think it of no use to go. We presume he thought the volunteers would all be killed before he could get there, and he and his men might suffer a like fate. The brave volunteers stood their ground and contested the battle with the Indians with- out yielding a foot, though they were outnumbered ten to one. It is said that at last one Simpson, a sergeant, one of those at the Cot- tonwood House, sprang to the front and cried out, "If your officers will not lead you to the rescue, I will." He was quickly joined by twenty-five others and they made their way to their horses. Perry, seeing that a part of his men were determined to go, ordered Cap- tain Whipple to take charge of them. When the troops arrived at the scene they found the brave volunteers still holding their gronnd, although their leader, Lieutenant Randall, had fallen mortally wounded, and B. F. Evans was killed and three others were wounded. With the assistance of the troops the Indians were soon put to flight. All honor to those brave volunteers, who held their positions for more than an hour against such great odds. We also honor and admire the act of that noble Seargeant Simpson in going and inducing others to go to the front when help was so badly needed. May the Lord and the people make his path smooth in this and the world to come. After the Indians had retreated, the men all went to the Cotton- wood House. The names of these volunteers were as follows: Lieutenant D. B. Randall, B. F. Evans, both killed; D. H. Hanson, mortally wounded; A. B. Lealand and Charles Johnson, wounded; INDIAN WAR OF 1877 215 L. P. Willmot, J. L. Cearley, James Buchanan, William B. Burner, Charles W. Case, E. J. Bunker, Frank D. Vansise, C. M. Day, George Riggins, A. D. Bartley, H. C. Johnson, F. A. Fenn. ARMS SENT TO LEWISTON BY U. S. GOVERNMENT. Soon after the outbreak of Chief Joseph and his hostile Indians the people of Lewiston and vicinity became alarmed for fear the Indians might make a raid on them. They had but few arms for protection and it was decided to wire our delegate in Congress, Hon. S. S. Fenn, and see if he could not secure arms from the U. S. government. Receiving the dispatch early in the day, Delegate Fenn at once introduced a joint resolution in the House authorizing and directing the Secretary of War to order by wire U. S. arms shipped by steamer from Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia river, to Lewiston, Idaho, for the use of the citizens, to protect their lives and property against the hostile Indians. Before the sun set that day this resolution was passed by both houses of Congress, approved by the President and a copy furnished the Secretary of War, and the Secretary had sent a telegram to the proper officer at Vancouver to forward the necessary arms by the first steamer. This we think was about the quickest work ever done in Congress by any delegate or member from the Pacific coast. It shows our Idaho delegate was not only alive and active to the interests of the people, but also commanded the respect of both branches of our National Legislature. Up to the time of the attack of the Indians upon these volunteers they had not met with a single loss of any kind. It is believed that in this engagement their loss in killed was nine, and that sev- eral were wounded. At least, nine graves were found at their first camp after they left the battle ground. This was the first reverse they had met since they started on the warpath. It appears that on this day, July 5th, General Howard had got back to White Bird Creek. Captain McConville of the Lewiston volunteers and Captain Hunter of the Dayton volunteers, who were with General Howard, on arriving at White Bird and learning of the Indians being in large numbers around the Cottonwood House, and of the killing of Captain Whipple's men, Howard, made a forced march and arrived at the Cottonwood House on the afternoon of July 5th. They had nearly one hundred men, but the Indians had gone to the mountains. It is said that General Howard managed to get his command into Grangeville from White Bird on July Qth, a distance nearly as far as McConville and Hunter's troops marched in one day. These volunteer companies set out the next morning to find 216 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO where the Indians were located, and discovered them about the 7th near the junction of the south and middle forks of the Clear- water River, in a rough country. There appeared to be large force of the Indians. They had some skirmishing with them the next day, when the Indians tried to cut off a small number of volunteers under Major Shearer, but they succeeded in getting into camp. They decided it was not best for their small party to attack such a large number, but to send a messenger for General Howard to come with his force, and for all hands to make the attack. They sent a messenger and went to work themselves making breastworks for defense against the Indians. That night the Indians made a raid and got 43 of their horses. Their messenger did not return, and being short of provisions and horses, they decided to go back to Cottonwood. On arriving there they found that their messenger was sick and unable to return, and that General Howard was wait- ing for reinforcements which he expected soon. On July llth General Howard moved with his whole command, including Captain Trimble from Slate Creek. It was found that Joseph, White Bird and Lookingglass with their hostile bands were all encamped in a deep, rough canyon, a little below where White Bird Creek enters into Clearwater, about thirteen miles from Grangeville, and they were fairly well fortified with breastworks and rifle pits. About noon on this day, July llth, Lieutenant Fletcher discovered the location of the Indians, and by 10 o'clock A. M., General Howard had his men operating one howitzer and two Gatling guns, throw- ing destructive missiles into the Indian camp. This appears to have been a hard and closely contested battle. No doubt Joseph and his followers expected to win a great victory there in their mountain fastness over the U. S. troops, and would then have things his own way. They fought desperately all that afternoon and went at it again early the next morning and kept it up until late in the afternoon. Finding they were getting the worst of it all the time, they finally very reluctantly began to move away for more secure quarters. During the fighting of this day and a half the resourceful, wily and bloodthirsty Chief Joseph watched every move made by General Howard or his men, and tried many times to cut off some of the General's men, horses, or pack trains, but with- out success. The Indians found for the first time, and much to their surprise, that General Howard was at home when in a pitched battle. While in many respects the Indians had the advantage of the canyon, rocks and brush they had selected and fortified for this great battle, they did not seem to think that General Howard could ride or walk as he chose coolly along the hillside, with his field glass, and watch their every move and direct his men and big guns INDIAN WAR OF 1877 against them as he thought would be most effective. General How- ard, like most God-fearing men, is not noted for fast marches, but when he takes a stand he is very hard to drive away. What he thinks is right he stands by. It is said that in this battle Chief Joseph showed great bravery and rare generalship, but at the end of one and a half days' hard fighting he was forced to run away from his chosen battle ground with all his following. He could no longer stand the slow but sure destruction of his savage warriors by the cool management of the old veteran, General Howard, who seemed to be at home in the engagement. When General Howard's troops took possession of the Indian battle ground, which they had been forced to abandon in a hurry, many of their lodges were still standing, filled with their effects, such as blankets, buffalo robes, flour, jerked beef, and plunder of all descriptions, while fires were burning and food cooking thereon. There were about 400 men under General Howard in this engage- ment, and were suposed to be more than 300 Indian warriors, be- sides many young Indian women, who always render the warriors valuable assistance in time of battle. The casualties of this battle, as nearly as known, were as follows: The Indians had twenty-three killed, about forty wounded, some of whom died, and about forty prisoners taken. Also a number of horses killed. The loss to the General's command was thirteen killed and twenty-two wounded. This may seem like a small loss for such a long fight, but when it is understood that the Indians were down in a deep, rough, rocky canyon, and were mostly concealed or sheltered behind rocks, or breastworks, it will be readily seen by any person who has ever had any experience in fighting Indians how difficult it was for our troops to pick them off, or how dangerous it would have been to have undertaken to make a charge on their stronghold. Speaking in the light of experience, we think that General Howard and the men under him in this battle all did well, and deserve great credit for their skill and bravery. The Indians made their way over the rough country, swimming the Clearwater River, and hit the trail for the buffalo country east of the Rocky Mountains. Their movements clearly showed that they realized they were badly defeated and did not want any more engagements with General Howard. The General could not follow up his victory that evening for several reasons. It was then late in the afternoon. The route which the Indians had taken was not a practicable route over which pack trains and heavy arms might be taken. It was rugged and rough and there was no way to cross the Clearwater River on their trail except by swimming. Besides this, by the time they could have packed their baggage and supplies it 218 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO would have been night, and they might have been ambushed travel- ing in the dark, or if they had left their camp and supplies in the hands of a few while the main force went in pursuit, the Indians might have doubled back and captured the whole camp outfit, for these wily Indians knew every foot of the country and could skip over and through rough places almost equal to a mountain goat, and no white man could compete with them in this business. The Indians were pursued by General Howard across the moun- tains into Montana, where other U. S. troops fell in and pursued them also. They committed some depredations on their route. They were finally captured by General Miles at Bear Paw Mountain, Miles having made a quick move and captured their horses before they knew of his presence. This was on October 4, 1877. General Howard came up with a small detachment of troops the same day. General Miles had taken Joseph completely by surprise; the In- dians hid as best they could, but seeing they could neither win in a fight against General Miles, nor get away from him, the next day, October 5th, they surrendered to General Miles, after being chased for more than 1,000 miles by General Howard. By order of Gen- eral Sheridan they were taken to Indian Territory, where they were kept for several years, and where many of them died. The rem- nant left, with Joseph, was finally brought back to Idaho, and Joseph with a small band was put on the Colville Reservation, in the State of Washington, where a few years ago Joseph died. We realize that this is already a long and tedious chapter for the reader, although we have omitted all of the incidents in General Howard's long march when following Joseph from the Clearwater in Idaho to Bear Paw Mountain in Montana. There was another act that took place in the southern part of Idaho that was so nearly connected with this Indian war of 1877 that it seems to us we should make some mention of it. It will be remembered that after Joseph's and White Bird's bands had committed the murders on the east side of the Salmon River they crossed back over to the west side, and it was thought by some that they intended to come down south into Washington County at a place called Council Valley, well up on the Weiser River, where the Indians had been in the habit of meeting once a year, holding councils, trading, etc. A message was sent from the north on June 18th to the people at the town of Weiser and also to Governor Brayman at Boise to be on the lookout for the Indians. About the same time word was brought to Boise that quite a number of the Bannock male Indians that belonged on the Fort Hall Reservation, situated more than two hundred miles east of Boise, were camped only about thirty miles east of Boise, all well armed and well mounted. These reports reached the Governor on INDIAN WAR OF 1877 219 June 19th. He immediately issued his proclamation calling for volunteers. This was late in the afternoon. The writer was at that time out ten miles from Boise. He was sent for and got to Boise about 9 P. M. The men were all out and ready to do whatever was thought best. A mass meeting was held and a company of volunteers was organized that night to go to the Weiser country. Reub Robbins was elected captain. We had some little trouble with the Governor, he being by law Commander-in-Chief and custodian of the arms (which had been furnished the Territory by the United States). He had the arms stored at Fort Boise, and positively re- fused to let us have any unless we should walk to Fort Boise and enlist under Major Collins of the U. S. army. This we positively refused to do. But when His Excellency was notified that if he did not give us an order for arms, and that quickly, that neither he nor the fifteen men at Fort Boise would prevent us from taking the arms that the U. S. Government had furnished for the people to use for protection on such occasions as the present, he realized what the demand meant, and gave the order for the arms. Drays were at once employed to haul the arms and ammunition down, and the writer and two other men proceeded to open the boxes containing the guns and ammunition, and to distribute them to Captain Rob- bins' company, which consisted of nearly one hundred men. Cap- tain Robbins, with a little more than half of his company, were outfitted with necessary supplies by the business men of Boise, and packed up and started that evening for Council Valley. Second Lieutenant John S. Gray went with a detachment of men to patrol up and down Snake River, to ascertain if any Indians should at- tempt to come from the south. Another small party, consisting of Milton Kelly, I. N. Coston, Obe Corder and a few others, were sent east to interview the Bannock Indian warriors (referred to be- fore), who were camped about thirty miles from Boise. This party was instructed to have the Indians, or at least their chief and prominent men, come into Boise and have a talk with the Governor and the people. We must say that when the arms were brought down from the fort, the Governor got in and worked like a Turk helping to distribute them to the volunteers. He seemed to under- stand the business and rendered all the assistance he could in help- ing to get the volunteers ready. In the meantime we were enlisted to go with Captain Robbins, but the Governor as commander-in- chief notified us that he had detailed and commissioned me to remain at Boise for a while to distribute arms, collect and distribute sup- plies, and to go where any emergency might arise. We put in all that night getting arms and ammunition into the stage office to be sent out early the next morning to Boise Basin, Silver City, Jordan THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Valley, Payette, Weiser and on Overland road. The people were very much alarmed all over the country, fearing a general outbreak of the Indians in the different parts of Idaho and adjoining states and territories. Indeed, the reports that came from every place where Indians were located were of an alarming nature. The next day, June 21st, Milton Kelly and party arrived about noon with thirty or forty of the Bannock Indians, all big, fine-looking fellows. They attracted the attention of all as they marched along Main street in double file on horseback, with Messrs. Kelly and Corder in front and the other volunteers in the rear, all in perfect order. They alighted near the Governor's office, the chief and a few of the head men were presented to the Governor and a few prominent citizens in the Governor's office, mutual greetings were extended by all, and a long peace talk was had, which resulted in a mutual verbal understanding that the people of Boise were to furnish pasture for their horses that night, and provisions for them for supper and breakfast next morning and then give them a few hun- dred pounds of flour, a few hundred pounds of meat, a reasonable amount of sugar, coffee and tea, some tobacco, etc., the next morn- ing, and they would then pack up and go and take all their men back to their reservation at Ross Fork, then in Oneida County, now Bannock County. As this was one of the many duties His Excel- lency had imposed on me, we had to get a lively move on. Fortun- ately we had a pasture with suitable camp ground and soon had them and their horses located, while our assistants procured the necessary rations for their supper and breakfast. Then the rustle came for supplies for them to pack away next morning. At that time we were engaged in the butcher business with our old friend G. W. Guess, so we pulled out the required amount of bacon and beef from our market to fill that part of the agreement, and every merchant responded without a murmur with a liberal amount of flour, sugar, coffee, etc., until we had enough to fill the agreement, notwithstanding they had all contributed liberally only a day or two before to supply the volunteers who had gone out. They were a generous and noble people, and believed strongly in protection, and were willing to help pay for it. Early the next morning, with the assistance of a few of our good boys, we gathered up all these con- tributions and checked up to see if they filled the agreement. Ev- erything was satisfactory, we helped them to puck up, and then tried to impress on them, first that we had kept and fulfilled our part of the agreement, and second, that tl.ey must not fail to fulfill their part of the agreement. The^r seemed to realize the importance of fulfilling their part, so we bad-e them a good-bye, wishing them a speedy and safe journey to the r home on the Fort Hall Reserva- INDIAN WAR OF 1877 tion. They went and kept their part of thj agreement for tha, year, 1877, but in 1878 they gave us trouble, of which we will speak later on. A few days after Captain Bobbins left for the Weiser country Colonel Green of the U. S. Army came into Boise by stage for the purpose of taking command of some three or four companies of U. S. cavalry troops which were expected and did come to Boise in a few days from Harney, McDermott and other places. It took some time for them to get ready to start north to the seat of war. They had a good deal of fixing to do, supplies and transportation to pro- cure. Colonel Green sent Major Collins with a small company of infantry to Council Valley soon after his arrival, but he and his company of cavalry did not get started from Boise until about the 18th of July. Several days before this General Howard had sent a messenger from Salmon River to the Weiser, informing the people and volunteers there that the Indians had re-crossed the Salmon River and gone north. There being no necessity for the volunteers to remain longer on the Weiser and Snake Rivers, both detachments were returned to Boise. During these exciting times the citizens at Placerville in Boise Basin had organized a company of volunteers who held themselves in readiness to go anywhere they were needed for several weeks. The people in Silver City, Jordan Valley, Boise, Payette and Weiser valleys, and in Salmon City were organized, armed and ready for action. All these necessary precautions with- out a doubt prevented the Bannock and Piute Indians from joining Chief Joseph, White Bird and Lookingglass. There is but little doubt in our mind that when these Indians, after making their raid on the northeast side of the Salmon River, crossed back, they ex- pected to meet the Bannock and Piute Indians and return to the Wallowa country and there fight for what they believed to be their own home. Failing to get this reinforcement, they turned and went north, and when beaten on the Clearwater by General Howard their only course was to surrender or to strike out across the mountains for the buffalo country. They chose the latter rather than surren- der, believing, doubtless, that Howard would not follow them far, but in that belief they were sadly mistaken. Captain Robbins went north and joined General Howard's com- mand as chief of scouts at Clearwater, and went with the General's command on the long, laborious and dangerous journey of 1,000 miles, from the Clearwater River in Idaho to the Bear Paw Mountain, where Chief Joseph and his band of hostile Indians were captured. General Howard says that Captain Robbins ren- dered very valuable services on that long, tiresome and danger- THE HISTORY OF IDAHO ous trip. We knew Captain Robbins well, and for untiring en- ergy, good judgment and bravery upon such occasions he has no superior. We have omited all of the many important incidents of General Howard's long pursuit of these Indians; we have not yet stated whom we thought to blame for the bringing on of this war; we are satisfied that many innocent, good citizens were murdered and a large amount of property taken and destroyed, belonging to innocent citizens; the United States Army lost many soldiers, and the Government incurred an extra or additional expense of a few hundred thousand dollars, and some person or persons must be to blame for it. We will not say who, but we do say that the citi- zens of Idaho who suffered death and heavy loss of property were innocent. We leave to the reader to fix the responsibility. In summing up the cost of this war of 1877 with Chief Joseph and his allied forces, amounting to not to exceed three hundred warriors, encumbered with their women and children, stock and camp equipage, we find that a campaign was conducted from June 15th to October 5th, 1877, with from twenty to thirty companies of United States troops, a number of citizens and Indian scouts, and several companies of volunteers a part of the time. There was a loss of good citizens murdered, not in battle, numbering about thirty, and wounded, not in battle, twenty. Of the volunteers there were about thirteen killed in battle and twenty wounded. Per- haps twenty citizens lost houses, barns and stores plundered and burnt, amounting to fifty or more, and several hundred head of stock, horses and cattle, were taken by the Indians. As nearly as we can learn the loss to the United States Army was, officers and men killed in battle, one hundred; wounded, one hundred and ten. The extra expense the Government necessarily had to incur in prosecuting this war we have no means of knowing, but we think it must have run up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In closing this the least we can say is that there does not ap- pear to have been any preparation made before hand to enforce the order of the Indian Department of our Government to remove the Indians at the time fixed upon for their rmoval. Hence the innocent had to suffer for the neglect of those whose duty it was to superintend their safe and peaceful removal onto the reservation if it was right they should be removed. If wrong, they should not have been ordered to remove. CHAPTER XLIV. BANNOCK INDIAN WAR IN 1878 Another of those murderous and devastating Indian Wars had now come to Idaho, and, worst of all, like most of the Indian Wars we have had, the innocent often had to suffer through the neglect of others. This was certainly the case during the Ban- nock Indian War of 1878. On July 27, 1867, the Congress of the United States passed an act authorizing the President to appoint seven commissioners to go west and try and, if possible, negotiate treaties with all the hostile and nontreaty Indians, and to make agreements with them to settle upon such reservations as they might agree upon and for the Indians to keep at peace with the whites. One hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars was appropriated in this act to defray the expenses of these commissioners, and it was pro- vided in the act that the Secretary of War should furnish them necessary protection. The act also appropriated three hundred thousand dollars to enable the Secretary of the Interior to locate and settle all such Indians as were willing to make their homes on those reservations. The act or law referred to can be found on page 17, Vo. IX, of the Fortieth Session of Congress. The names of the commissioners appointed were N. G. Taylor, Lieut. General Sherman, United States Army, William S. Harney, John B. Sanborn, S. F. Tappen, C. C. Augur, Brevet Major General United States Army, Alfred H. Terry. These commissioners were engaged in the work assigned to them in making treaties and set- ting apart reservations for Indians in the Western States and Ter- ritories a part of the year 1867 and most of the year 1868. Included among many other treaties made by these commis- sioners with the various tribes of Indians was a treaty made with the Bannock Indians, and, at the same time and embodied in the same agreement, a treaty was made with the Shoshone Indians. The Shoshone Indians' reservation was located in Wyoming, and the reservation for the Bannock Indians was located in Idaho Territory. This treaty can be found on pages 673-678, Vol. XV, Fortieth Session Laws and Treaties of Congress. My reason for referring to this treaty is : first, that it has been said by some that this reservation was set aside at a much earlier date for the Sho- shone and Bannock Indians. This is not correct, for the reserva- tion of the Shoshones was located in Wyoming. Second, this treaty 224 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO says the Bannocks were to have "reasonable portions of the Port Neuf and Kansas Prairie Country." There can be no doubt that the word "Kansas" should have been written "Camas." Either the interpreter, clerk or the type-setter made the mistake. These Indians always understood they were entitled to a part of Camas Prairie for that was their place for digging camas. The Gov- ernment officials knew all about this and made no effort to adjust the matter, but opened Camas Prairie for settlement by the whites. Extract from the treaty: "A treaty of peace was made and entered into with relinquish- ment of certain lands and two reservations were set apart. This treaty was entered into by N. G. Taylor, Lieut. Gen. W. T. Sher- man, William S. Harney, John S. Sanborn, S. F. Tappen, Major Gen. C. C. Augur, and Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry, acting com- missioners for the United States, and Wash-A-Kee, Wau-Ny-Pitz, Toop-Se-Po-Wot, Nor-Kok, Taboonshe-Ya, Bazeel, Pan-To-She- Ga, Ninny-Bilse, Indians acting for the Shoshone Indians (east- ern band) and Taggel, Tay-Toba, We-Rat-Ze-Won-A-Gen, Coo- Sha-Gan, Pan-Sook-A-Motse, A-Mite-Etse, Indians acting for the Bannocks. Made, concluded and signed by the parties above and dated Fort Bridger, Territory of Utah, July 3rd, 1868. Ratified by the United States Senate Feb. 16th, 1869, proclaimed by Pres- ident Andrew Johnson, Feb. 24th, 1869." Article 2 reads as follows: "It is agreed that whenever the Bannocks desire a reservation to be set apart for their use or, whenever the President of the United States shall deem it advisa- ble for them to be put upon a reservation, he shall cause one to be selected for them in their present country, which shall em- brace reasonable portions of the Port-Neuf and Kansas Prairie countries, that, when this reservation is declared, the United States will secure to the Bannocks the same rights and privileges therein and make the same and like expenditures therein for their benefit, except the agency house and residence of agent, in pro- portion to their numbers, as herein provided for the Shoshone reservation. "The United States further agrees that the following district of country, to-wit: commencing at the mouth of Owl Creek and running due south to the crest of the divide between the Sweet- water and Papoagee River, thence along the crest of said divide to the summit of Wind River Mountains to the longitude of the North Fork of Wind River, thence due north to the mouth of said North Fork and up its channel to a point twenty miles above its mouth, thence in a straight line to the head waters of Owl Creek and along the middle of the channel of Owl Creek to place of BANNOCK INDIAN WAR beginning, shall be and the same is set apart for the absolute and undisturbed occupation of the Shoshone Indians herein named and for such other friendly tribes and individual Indians, as from time to time may be willing, with the consent of the United States to admit amongst them. The United States now solemnly agrees that no persons except those herein designated and authorized so to do, and except such officers and agents and employees of the Government as may be authorized to enter upon Indian Reserva- tions in discharge of duties enjoined by law shall ever be per- mitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article for the use of said Indians. Henceforth they will and do hereby relinquish all title, claims or rights in and to any portion of the territory of the United States, except such as is embraced within the limits aforesaid." Article V provides that the President may have this reservation surveyed. Article IV reads as follows: "The Indians herein named agree, when the Agency House and other buildings shall be constructed on their reservation named, they will make said reservation their permanent home and will make no permanent settlement elsewhere, but they shall have the right to hunt on the unoccupied lands of the United States, so long as game may be found thereon and so long as peace exists among the whites and Indians on the borders of the hunting districts/* Article II reads as follows: "No treaty for the cession of any portion of the reservation herein described, which may be held in common, shall be of any force or validity as against the said In- dians unless executed and signed by at least a majority of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the same. No ces- sion by the tribe shall be understood or construed in such man- ner as to deprive without his consent any individual member of the tribe of his right to any tract of land selected by him as provided in Article VI of this treaty." Soon after this treaty was made, the Bannock Indians went to the Port-Neuf and Camas Prairie countries. In fact, they hacf been making these places their principal home for many years. The treaty was ratified Feb. 16, 1869- The Governor of Idaho was ordered by the authorities at Washington to have the pro- posed Indian Reservation surveyed. Just how specific his orders were as to locality we do not know, but the presumption is that the reservation was to be surveyed in accordance with the agree- ment in the treaty, which "was to embrace reasonable portions of the Port Neuf and Kansas Prairie country." It appears, or at least it was the common talk at the time, that the Governor of Hia-15 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Idaho went out with the surveyor to the Port Neuf country, looked around a little and then with a wave of his hand said, "Boys, survey out a good sized reservation around here for these In- dians." He then left and returned to Boise. Nothing was said or done about the Kansas or Camas Prairie that was to be included. The surveyor was paid by the mile for the work, and, having no restrictions placed on him as to the size, the survey was run so as to make as many miles as possible. In this way, the reservation was made to include twice as much country as was necessary, and much more than the Indians expected or wanted. But Indians are like the majority of white men, if you intentionally give them more than is coming to them on one account, they can see no rea- son why they should not receive the full amount on any other ac- count. So these Bannock Indians were willing to accept what was surveyed for them as their portion of the Port Neuf country, but they still contended for a resaonable portion of the Camas Prairie country. They were allowed by the Indian Agent to go to Camas Prairie whenever they pleased to dig camas, hunt and fish. In the Spring of 1873, the writer of this was in Washington, D. C., and, knowing these Indians claimed the right under the treaty for a part of Camas Prairie and knowing, also, that Joseph and other bands of the Nez Perce Indians refused to go upon the Nez Perce reservation, I went before the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Secretary of the Interior. I called their attention to the language of the treaties, and urged that compe- tent commissioners be appointed to visit all of these dissatisfied Indians and make such agreements with them as would be satis- factory and guarantee peace in the future. The Secretary of the Interior seemed to realize the importance of my recommendation and promised me he would appoint a commission at an early day to visit these Indians and have all unsettled matters adjusted. Soon after this, I was notified the Secretary had appointed as commissioners to visit the Nez Perces, the following gentlemen: General Shanks of Indiana, Governor T. W. Bennett of Idaho, and J. B. Monteith, the Agent of the Nez Perce Indians; for the Bannock Indians, the two gentlemen first named ,and the Indian Agent at Fort Hall. These commissioners visited the Nez Perce agency at Lapwai. Their visit did not result in any good; on the contrary, seemed to create a feeling of dissatisfaction between the whites and the Indians. The commissioners met with the Fort Hall Indian Agent and Bannock Indians at Soldier Creek on Camas Prairie. Nothing was done or agreed upon. There were no white settlers on Camas Prairie at that time. The Indians BANNOCK INDIAN WAR roamed at will all over the Prairie. My opinion is that the two In- dian Agents succeeded in making Messrs. Shanks and Bennett believe they understood their work and would continue to man- age the Indian business in a proper manner. So the real object of the commission was defeated. In 1878, some hogs were driven to Camas Prairie and herded on that portion of the Prairie which produces the camas roots, and a band of cattle and some horses were driven there by Wil- liam Silvey, George Nesbet and Lou Kensler. These three men camped on the south side of the Prairie about ten miles south- west from what is known as the crossing of Corral Creek. They had only been there a few days when two Bannock Indians came to their camp. These Indians appeared friendly and went out on the range with the men on the 27th of May. After looking at the horses and cattle, they returned to the camp and remained there ufitil evening. They were treated well by the white men, and when they left the camp, appeared perfectly friendly. These two Indians could speak English. One was called Charley and the other, Jim. On the morning of May 28th, soon after the white men had finished their breakfast, these same Indians rode up to the camp and dismounted. The white men gave them breakfast, and they still seemed to be friendly. While they were eating, William Sil- vey walked up on to some high ground to see where the cattle and horses were. As soon as the two Indians had finished their break- fast, Mr. Kensler walked out a short distance to where he had two horses picketed and started to saddle one of them. In the meantime, Mr. Nesbet was stooping over picking up the camp dishes from the ground. While in this stooping position, Indian Charley, without the least provocation or warning, shot Mr. Nes- bet through the jaws with a pistol. Nesbet made an effort to get into the tent, which was only a few feet distant, in order to get his gun. He succeeded in getting the gun and a box of car- tridges. In the meantime, Kensler left his horse and started for the tent but, before he could reach it, Indian Jim shot him; for- tunately, the bullet just grazed one side of his head knocking him down, but he soon recovered and got up and went on to the tent. Nesbet was in the tent unable to get up but holding a gun and cartridges. He gave these to Kensler. Silvey, hearing the shooting, had started back to camp, and the Indians were shooting at him from some distance. Kensler commenced shooting at the Indans and they both ran, one of them badly wounded. Silvey was not hurt. He and Kensler saddled two horses as soon as they 228 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO could. Kensler got on one and Silvey put Nesbet up behind Ken- sler, while he took the other horse. They then started as fast as they could toward Boise. The nearest place where any white person lived was Dixie stage station, about twenty-two miles dis- tant. After traveling a few miles, they looked back and saw a large number of Indians headed for the camp they had left. They pushed on as fast as they could. The Indians did not follow them. They were evidently content for the time to plunder the camp and take the horses (nineteen head) and as many cattle as they wanted. About three miles further on they came to the abandoned camp of Jesse Baker, who had left one horse staked out. They took this horse, put one of their saddles on him and Kensler rode him, and they put Nesbet on the poorest one of the two other horses. This was an old pony with a sore back, and he had to ride this old pony without a saddle. They then proceeded on their way. When within about one mile of Little Camas Prairie, where the stage and freight teams coming from the west would turn from the road they were traveling to the left and go to Rocky Bar, they met two men on foot, John McCameron and John Young. They told these men of the trouble they had had with the Indians. Mc- Cameron and Young knew there were two freight teams on the road a few miles back; also, that it was about time for W. C. Tatro to come along with his stage, so McCameron got Silvey to let him take his horse and he hurried back to notify the team- sters and the stage driver of the Indian trouble before they left the main road for Rocky Bar. He reached the forks of the road just in time to notify the two freighters and Mr. Tatro. In a short time, the other men came up, Silvey leading the horse Nes- bet was riding. Nesbet was taken from his horse, the blood washed from his head, face and mouth as well as possible, and he was then put into one of Mr. Guard's freight wagons, made as com- fortable as circumstances would permit, and the two freighters turned around and drove back to the Dixie stage station, a distance of about five miles. Mr. Tatro made arrangements with Mr. Mc- Cameron to go through to Boise as soon as possible and notify Colonel Bernard, who was in command at Boise Barracks, of the Indian outbreak. Mr. Tatro with one lady passenger, Miss Clara Coffin, now Mrs. Charles Fury, then proceeded on his way to Rocky Bar and got through without trouble. Mr. McCameron on his way to Boise overtook Jesse Baker and they came through to- gether, arriving late at night, and notified Colonel Bernard and the people of Boise of the Indian outbreak. On arrival of the freighters with Nesbet, Kensler and Silvey at Dixie station, Lafe Griffin, who was there, started at once on BANNOCK INDIAN WAR 229 horseback to notify the people through the Bennett Creek, Cold Springs country, and Glenns Ferry, of the Indian outbreak. After remaining at Dixie station two days, William Guard un- loaded one of his wagons and took Mr. Nesbet over to the Moun- tain House. This station was kept at that time by Mr. Porter and his wife. They cared for them as well as possible until the next day. Commodore Jackson came up from his ranch five miles below with a light spring wagon and took Nesbet down to his house, where he remained for two days, until James Agnew sent Samuel Chancy out to Jackson's ranch with a team and spring wagon after Mr. Nesbet. A mattress was put into the wagon for him, and he was brought to Boise. It was about one week after Nesbet was shot before he arrived in Boise and was properly cared for by a physician. Dr. Tread- well, upon examination, found that his mouth was filled with live vermin from fly blows. The doctor cleaned it out and stitched his tongue together. After many weeks of suffering, he recovered. It appears that the band of Indians who came to the Silvey, Kensler and Nesbet camp, only stayed there about one day, kill- ing cattle and drying beef; also, gathering up all the horses they could find and preparing for a general war. It seems there were two white men with the Indians, one whose name was Demsey; the other, Mabes. Demsey was about fifty years of age and had been living with these Indians for a number of years. He had an Indian woman, one of the Bannock tribe, for a wife. I saw this man, Demsey, several times before the outbreak and talked with him. He did not appear to be at all dangerous or blood- thirsty. He possessed ordinary intelligence, but seemed to be af- flicted with general indolence. In fact, he seemed to have been born tired and never got rested. It appears these Indians made Demsey write a letter to Governor Braymen at Boise telling him not to send troops to fight them; if he did, they would kill the people and destroy the property all over the country. They sent this letter by the other white man, Mabes, to be delivered to the Governor. Whether Mabes delivered this letter, we do not know, nor do we know what became of Mabes. But before the Indians left the camp on Camas Prairie, they killed Demsey and left his remains near the camp. After the attack on the white men on Camas Prairie, it was stated by a friendly Indian, named Captain Jim, that some of the Indians had been drinking and they came very near having a row among themselves. Some were opposed to going to war, while others were determined for war. One of the head men, Buffalo Horn, who was in favor of war, finally succeeded in getting about 230 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO two hundred warriors and a few of the young Indian women to follow him. They started on the warpath against the whites to murder, steal and destroy property. The remainder of the In- dians, who were on the Prairie at that time, returned to the Fort Hall or Bannock reservation. Buffalo Horn and his followers left the Prairie, and the next we heard of them they were at King Hill station on the Overland stage road about forty miles south of Camas Prairie. The stock tender at this station saw them coming and made his escape by running up King Hill Creek and keeping in the brush. They robbed the station of all provisions, blankets, etc., cut the harness to pieces and took all the stage horses, nine in number. The next place they raided was Glenns Ferry on Snake River, five miles below King Hill station. The men attending the ferry had been warned of the danger by Lafe Griffin, and had gone. The Indians plundered their house, then took possession of the ferry boat. They ferried themselves and horses across, then burned the derrick that held the ferry cable which freed it from the boat. The boat drifted down the river about thirty miles, and was seen by John Carpenter. He and Mr. Calhoun caught it and tied it up. Later, Mr. Glenn came down and floated it back. Near the ferry on the east side of the river were several wagons loaded with merchandise for Boise merchants. The teamsters, who had been warned of the Indian troubles, had turned their horses out to grass, and they had gone. The Indians raided these wagons. Two of the wagons with trails belonged to George Ellis of Boise. They were loaded with stoves and other hardware for Mr. Frank R. Coffin of Boise. There was quite a lot of hay and straw in these wagons packed in with the hardware. They set fire to these wagons and burned them, and most of the hardware was destroyed. There were several other freight wagons, one of them loaded with cases of liquor, belonging to the late Davis Levi of Boise. The Indians opened these cases and helped themselves. They remained there that night and had a big spree, destroying most of the merchandise and cutting up all of the freighters' har- ness. They left the next morning taking all they wanted from the wagons, also some of the freighters' mules and horses. A few miles down the river they met Mr. John Bascom and two other men traveling in a two-horse wagon. They killed these three men, and shot the team while still hitched to the wagon. From there they went on down the Snake River across to Bruneau. A few days later, Mr. Ellis and several other men went out to Glenns Ferry to look after the teams, wagons and freight. Mr. Ellis BANNOCK INDIAN WAR SSI found all of his mules, but two of his wagons were burned and most of the freight had been destroyed. Some of the other team- sters' mules and horses were gone. Mr. Ellis and others went down the river to where Mr. Bascom and the other men had been killed, found and buried them. One was in the wagon, one, near the wagon, and the third, several yards from the wagon. At the time these Indians went on to the Bruneau, there were a few set- tlers living there, but most of them succeeded in getting away, excepting a Mr. Sweeney, whom they killed; and, further up, they killed a Mr. Hays. We must now go back and mention some other matters which deserve attention here. On the day of the outbreak, W. C. Tatro, of whom we have spoken as being the proprietor and driver of the stage to Rocky Bar, drove into Rocky Bar that evening and gave the news of the Indian outbreak. Hon. George M. Parsons immediately raised a company of volunteers and started out the next day for Camas Prairie. They went to the Silvey camp, where Nesbet and Kensler were shot, from there to Glenns Ferry and searched the country well but could find no hostile Indians, so they turned back making a thorough search over the country on their return. As soon as Col. Bernard received the news, he got his troops ready and was ready to start for Camas Prairie the next day. He took with him Col. Rube Robbins who had been chief of scouts under General Howard, in 1877, in his long march after Joseph's band of Nez Perces. Mr. Robbins has the reputa- tion of being one of the very best Indian scouts and fighters on this coast. He is cool, brave, untiring and possesses most excel- lent judgment in that line of business. Col. Bernard marched his men to Camas Prairie to the scene of the outbreak. He found no Indians, so he took their trail and followed it to Glenns Ferry on Snake River. The ferry boat was gone and there was no means of crossing the Snake River. He there learned that the Indians had gone down the river on the opposite side, so he marched down to what is called the Big Bend, near where the Bruneau empties into the Snake. Here they swam their horses and crossed the river with their supplies in a skiff. They went up the Brnneau Valley, and found and buried the body of Jack Sweeney, who had been killed by the Indians. The Indians had left this locality so the soldiers continued on up the valley to where there is a settle- ment of white people. Here they built a picket fort for protec- tion. During this time the people of Silver City, in Owyhee County, had heard there were hostile Indians in the mountainous country south of Silver. A small company of volunteers, armed and 232 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO mounted, was soon raised. This company was commanded by the late Captain Harper. They started for the scene of the hostile camp, which was only a few miles south from a small mining camp, called South Mountain or Battle Creek. On this creek, they found the Indians ready and apparently anxious to fight. In- dians usually select a position for fighting where they have the advantage of the ground. In this case, the Indians not only had the advantage of the fighting ground, but they had three or four times as many men as the volunteers. It was bad policy to engage in a fight against such odds, but the Indians urged them to fight and it was fight or run. All this little company of twenty-six were brave men, and preferred to try a battle with the Indians rather than turn back and take the chance of being followed by them. The bat- tle was fierce for awhile. Most of the horses the volunteers were riding were unaccustomed to the sound of fire arms. This, com- bined with the hideous yells of the Indians, frightened them so many of them threw their riders, and others were so hard to man- age that their riders had a poor show to do much fighting. Sev- eral of the volunteers dismounted and sent many well directed shots at the Indians. This seemed to surprise them. The bullets went so fast that the Indians did not dare attempt a charge on the brave little company. Captain Harper lost two of his good, brave men Mr. O. H. Purdy, a man who was loved by all who knew him, and Chris Studer, another brave man. Two or three were slightly wounded. The Indians seemed to recognize Mr. Purdy's bravery, for instead of scalping him, as usual, he was left unharmed; and, as a further token of their respect, his spurs were taken off and fastened to the limb of a tree. This seemed to be what might be called a "draw battle/' It was never known how many the Indians lost. They seemed willing for the volun- teers to draw off and did not follow them. The next day, they broke camp and moved on west. Word reached Col. Bernard on the Qth of June, while he was near the head of the Bruneau Valley, of the volunteers having a fight with the Indians. He started for Silver City at once with his troops, a distance of about seventy miles. They traveled all night and arrived in Silver City on the 10th at 6:30 a. m. Word had been brought in that the Indians had gone and were supposed to have moved toward Jordan Valley. Col. Bernard allowed his horses and men to rest only a few minutes, then started for Sheep Ranch in Jordan Valley about fifty miles from Silver City. Arriv- ing at Sheep Ranch, he learned that the mail stage, which was due there the day before, had not yet arrived. Col. Rube Rob- bins, chief of scouts, with a few men was sent out on the road BANNOCK INDIAN WAR 233 to learn the reason for the delay of the stage and locate the hos- tile Indians. He started out on the Winnemucca stage road from Sheep Ranch to the crossing of the Owyhee River, a distance of six miles. They crossed this river and travelled about two miles further. They found what was left of the stage wagon. It had been burned. A short distance away they discovered the dead body of the stage driver in the sagebrush. They learned after- wards that the day before, while driving along this road, the driver, Mr. McCutcheon, and one passenger saw a band of Indians approaching them. The driver stopped the team, and he and the passenger each took one of the lead horses and, mounting as quickly as they could, they started back on the road. For some cause it seems that, after going a short distance, the horse that Mr. McCutcheon was riding fell (presumably stepped on< one of the lines that was dragging). The Indians soon came up and mur- dered him. They chased the passenger and shot at him a number of times but his horse proved faster than the Indian ponies, so after a few miles they gave it up and returned to plunder the stage coach. Nothing was left of the stage only the iron. They took the three stage horses and moved west in the direction of Stein's Mountain. Col. Robbins had Mr. McCutcheon's body packed on horseback to Sheep Ranch station, where it was buried. The next day Col. Bernard, with his command, started in the direction of Stein's Mountain. Col. Robbins and scouts went on ahead in search of the Indians. They arrived at Camp Harney the next day about noon, June 21st. Major Downey was stationed here with a few soldiers. Mr. A. H. Robie, French and several other settlers were at Camp Harney, having been driven away from their ranches by the Indians, leaving their stock and every- thing they had. In their flight one Chinaman, a cook, was killed, and one white man wounded. Mr. Robie and the other settlers had just rounded up and driven several hundred head of fine horses and mules into a large lot or corral and were preparing to start to drive them out to some more secure place, when they saw a large number of Indian warriors coming on horseback at a furious rate and sounding the Indian war-whoop. They mount- ed their saddle horses and ran for their lives, the Indians close after them shooting every moment. They were chased by these hostiles for about fifteen miles, when the Indian horses began to fail and they turned and went to the corrals where the horses and mules were. The Indians took most of these horses and mules, and killed or crippled the others. There were a number of large herds of fat cattle ranging over the country through which the Indians passed. Col. Robbins says that when THE HISTORY OF IDAHO he came along with his scouts there were many dead cattle on both sides of the Indian trail. They seemed to delight in shoot- ing down the largest fat steers. Sometimes the tongue was cut out and a piece taken from the loin, but many of them had not been touched after the shooting. A Mr. Smith and his son, John, who resided in Happy Valley, had taken his family to Harney and then returned to his ranch to look after his stock. He and his son were both killed by the Indians, his stock taken and the house plundered. In the mean- time General O. O. Howard with several companies had passed through Silver City, from there to Fort Lyon and across the coun- try west to Malheur Indian reservation. By June 20th these hostile Bannock Indians had induced In- dians from other tribes to join them so they had in all about two thousand. Of these, about one thousand were male warriors and the remainder consisted of young Indian women and boys, who were very useful in moving camp, driving stock, cooking, etc. These recruits came from the Duck Valley Indians, Lemhis, Win- nemuccas, Malheurs, Snakes and others. In travelling they would send out scouting parties on either side of the road to kill, rob and destroy. One friendly Indian stated that, in talking with one of the hostiles, they had killed up to June 20th thirteen white men, and had lost only three Indians. They had destroyed a large amount of property belonging to the whites, had all the good horses and beef they wanted, and had lost nothing in the way of property. A day or two after Col. Bobbins brought the body of George McCutcheon to Sheep Ranch for burial, Andy Baker, then Divi- sion Agent on the stage road, undertook to put the stages to running on the road again. Johnny Biggs, driver, E. B. Tage and William Moody, express messengers, left Sheep Ranch with Mr. Baker to drive to Camp McDermott. They had to drive sev- enty-five miles with one pair of horses, the stage stock having been turned out when the stock tenders left. They succeeded in getting most of the stock back, and in a few days, had the stages running on time. Several freighters loaded with merchandise for Silver City had to stop at McDermott some weeks before they would venture to go over the road. Col. Robbins only stopped at Camp Harney long enough for his men to get some lunch and a few fresh horses which Major Dow- ney let him have. Several of the settlers, who had been run into this place, joined Col. Robbins' company of scouts, and they scoured the country that afternoon and found the direction the Indians were travelling. Feeling satisfied that the Indians were BANNOCK INDIAN WAR %S5 not far away, it was necessary for Robbins to report to Col. Ber- nard. He did not have much trouble in finding the Colonel, for he had been marching at the rate of fifty miles a day on the Indian trail. They camped for the night as men and horses were worn out. Col. Robbins was off with his scouts before daylight the next morning, June 22d, on the Indian trail, and soon after Col. Bernard and his command moving in the same direction. Af- ter following the Indian trail for about thirty-five miles, Robbins found it to be quite fresh, so he left his men and went on alone to a high mountainside where he could have a view of the country for several miles. He succeeded in locating the Indian camp a few miles distant in a canyon on Silver Creek. He returned to his scouts, and going back a short distance, met Col. Bernard with his command of four companies. It was too late to attempt an attack that day, so they camped for the night. Col. Robbins with a few of his scouts started about one o'clock a. m. to try and get the exact location of the Indian camp and the surrounding coun- try before they made an attack. He did this by going on their trail as far as it was safe, then, leaving his men, he climbed up a steep hillside onto a level plain. He traveled quietly over this until opposite the Indian camp. From this point he could see all the Indian camps and the surrounding country by the clear star- light. It looked like a hard proposition. There were at least two thousand Indians and about one thousand of them able bodied war- riors, and less than three hundred soldiers to fight them. The sight of that big camp of hostiles would have made almost any man, excepting Robbins, feel it was right for him to go back and report to Col. Bernard that the Indians had such a strong force it would not do to attack them without re-inforcements. But not so with Robbins he went back to his scouts and they soon met Col. Bernard with his command. Bernard asked if he had located the Indian camp and how many there were. Col. Robbln* told him of the location and that there were about two thousand Indians. Col. Bernard and his officers did not seem to think this possible, but wanted to know what Col. Robbins thought of mak- ing an attack. Robbins said to him, "Why, certainly, Colonel, I am here to find the Indians, and you and your men are here to whip them," adding, "but as this is likely to be quite a job, I will take my thirty-five scouts and climb the hill and go up and charge the Indian camp. I will expect you to come up the canyon promptly with your men to meet me soon after you hear us shoot- ing, for there will be plenty of work for all of us and it is liable to last all day." Here were two as brave men as ever shouldered guns talking very coolly, but every word in earnest. Robbins, a 236 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO citizen of Boise, held a commission from the Governor as Colonel of the Militia; and Bernard, a Colonel of the United States Army. The plan of attack was agreed upon. Col. Bernard had some troops with him who it was said at one time did not stand their ground in a fight. He addressed them in substance as follows: "Men, we are about to engage the enemy in battle; I expect every man to stand his ground and fight. We must and can win the fight, if you all do your duty. I hope no one will fail to do his whole duty, but if there is a man that runs from the battle field, if I live through it, I will have him shot. 'Tis better for you to face the enemy and fight even if you should be shot by them in the line of duty than to be shot for cowardice." This short speech seemed to have the desired effect. A little after daylight Col. Rob- bins made the attack with a charge through the Indian camp. He took them by surprise. They evidently thought they were far ahead of the troops and in a safe place. Very few of them were up; they rallied quickly, however, and seized their arms. They were so surprised and confused that the most of them fired straight up in the air. Colonel Bernard was on hand with his men at the time and place agreed upon, and his men fought well. The In- dians soon recovered from their surprise and concealed themselves behind rocks and kept up a firing all day. During the charge some very interesting combats took place in very close quarters. Chief Egan was an Indian of large stature and noted for his bravery and expert horsemanship. He had se- cured his favorite horse, and knowing Col. Bobbins, made a dash for him. He had a repeating rifle, and when within a few steps of Col. Robbins, would fire at him, then throw himself on the op- posite side of his horse and rise quickly and fire again. He shot through the Colonel's clothes a few times, and one of his bul- lets grazed Robbins' finger, but the Colonel was not idle he was trying to get at Chief Egan and finally sent a bullet through one of Egan's wrists, which broke it. This brought Egan to the ground. The Colonel then gave him another shot through the right side of the breast, and another scout shot him near the groin. Two Indians then came up and carried Egan away, but he did not die at that time. Another hand-to-hand fight took place be- tween Sergeant Richmond of Captain McGregory's company and an Indian chief called Bear Skin. This was an interesting tussle for a short time, but the Sergeant finally killed his Indian and was not hurt. The Indians had fixed up some fortifications among the rocks, and got to them as fast as they could. The soldiers took posi- tions where they were not so much exposed to the fire of the In- BANNOCK INDIAN WAR 237 dians, and shots were frequently exchanged all that day. After the heat of the battle was over, Col. Robbins met Col. Bernard and some of his officers and very quietly inquired if they had counted the Indians to ascertain whether there were two thousand as he had reported that morning. They all stated that they had been kept too busy to even try to count them, but thought Rob- dians had underestimated the number as there were more In- dians than any of them had ever seen together at one time. One of the officers remarked that there were more Indians than he had ever seen white people at a race track in the Eastern States. The troops and scouts camped that night on the fighting ground. They were tired out and so were their horses, as they had been on forced marches for several days. They did not attempt to guard the Indians that night, only put out soldiers to protect their camp and horses. They were not molested during the night, and the In- dians concluded that place was not good enough for them so qui- etly packed up and left. As near as could be ascertained, the In- dians lost about one hundred, nearly all warriors, and a number wounded. The loss to the troops was one scout, Mr. Myers, and four soldiers killed and a few slightly wounded. Mr. Robie and a few settlers who had gone to Camp Harney for protection were with the troops during this battle. It was at this place Mr. Robie, who was completely exhausted, was taken sick and he with some of his employes came back to his ranch near Boise. He received the best of medical care and attention, but the fearful shock and hard ride had done their work, and he lingered a few days and died. In the death of Mr. Robie, Idaho lost a most enterprising citizen and a noble, good man. On the morning of the 28rd of June, before the fight began, Colonel Bernard had started a messenger with a dispatch to Gen- eral Howard who was at Malheur notifying him that they had found the Indians, and also stating that he might need help. Gen- eral Howard started for the battle ground immediately upon re- ceipt of this dispatch. He arrived at the Colonel's camp early in the morning on June 24th. Being the ranking officer, General Howard took command. Colonel Robbins and his scouts were out early on the morning of the 24th looking for the Indians. They soon found the Indian trail, heading in a northwesterly direction through a country set- tled by a few stock raisers and miners. These people had all left their homes and gone to Canyon City for protection. Robbins im- mediately sent a messenger to notify the officers of the direction the Indians had taken. The troops immediately broke camp and started to follow the Indian trail. Their march was necessarily 838 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO slow on account of the rough roads and their heavy loads of sup- plies. General Howard was never accused of moving troops fast at any time, when in pursuit of Indians, and this was no excep- tion. Colonel Bobbins and his men were out early and late scouring the country for the Indians. They found several men who had been killed by the Indians and their bodies usually mutilated. The Indians seemed to be scattered over a wide area of coun- try; they were plundering houses, sometimes burning them, shoot- ing down large numbers of cattle, stealing all the horses and kill- ing every person they found. Their main trail headed in a northwesterly direction toward the John Day River in Grant County, Oregon. They crossed this stream several miles west of Canyon City, and then changed their course to a northeasterly direction toward the Umatilla Indian reservation. Colonel Robbins and his men crossed the John Day River fol- lowing the Indian trail. Within a few miles they came to a sheep corral into which a number of sheep had been driven, a large fire built and many of the lambs' hind feet had been tied together and the poor animals thrown in the fire to burn to death, and most of the old sheep had been killed and left to rot. A few miles further on, they came to a herd of Merino bucks that the Indians had caught and cut their fore legs off at the knee and then left the poor things to suffer. Going on a short distance, they saw what they thought must be a man on foot running and several Indians in close pursuit. They started immediately, but before they were near enough to tell whether it was a white man or an Indian, the person fell, the Indians halted, but, seeing the scouts, mounted their horses and hurried off to the timber. The scouts hurried up as quickly as possible, and found the Indians had scalped and mutilated the body of a white man. He was not quite dead, but was unable to speak and expired in a few moments. They buried him and con- tiued in their pursuit of the Indians. This was not the only poor unfortunate Colonel Robbins and his men buried. Whenever they found a man killed by the Indians, they gave the body temporary burial and marked the grave so it could be found and cared for by friends after the Indian trouble was over. A few miles further on they came to Camas Prairie in Oregon. Here they found a fine, well-improved milk and cheese ranch, but everything ruined about the place. The buildings were left stand- ing, but several thousand pounds of cheese had been taken out and rolled in the dirt. More than a hundred head of hogs had been killed and left on the ground. BANNOCK INDIAN WAR 289 Bobbins at last located the Indians up a rocky canyon leading np to the Blue Mountains. He then returned and notified General Howard who was several miles west of Pilot Rock. Colonel Rob- bins succeeded in getting General Howard's consent to attack the Indians the next morning. The plan was for the scouts, who then numbered about forty, to make the attack and for Colonel Ber- nard with his four companies of cavalry to follow up closely on one side of the canyon, while General Howard was to come up later with General Wheaton's several companies of infantry. On the morning of July 8th, Colonel Robbins surprised the In- dians by charging into their camp. The Indians ran in every direction, but soon concealed themselves in the rocks and clefts that were near. A few were killed before they succeeded in find- ing shelter. Colonel Bernard was promptly on the ground with his troops and he, Colonel Robbins and their men kept pouring shot into the Indians' place of concealment so rapidly that the Indians were forced to make a slow retreat from one cleft of rocks to another, firing back at the troops at every opportunity. For some reason, their shots were not very effective. They suc- ceeded, however, in dismounting quite a number of the scouts, and a few of the soldiers by shooting their horses, but did not kill any men at that time. Later in the day, General Howard with the infantry came up and congratulated Colonel Robbins on the successful attack he had made. While General Howard and Colonel Robbins were stand- ing talking only a few paces apart, one of the General's aides came up and stood between them. Soon after he took this posi- tion, several shots were fired by the Indians, one of which struck the General's aide in the bowels inflicting such a severe wound that he died that night. Colonel Robbins and scouts, and Colonel Bernard with his cavalry again charged the Indians and drove them to the timber in the Blue Mountains. They killed quite a number of Indians and captured quite an amount of their supplies and camp equipage, and about two hundred head of Indian ponies. The loss to the troops was one man killed and four wounded, and about twenty horses killed or disabled. This fight lasted for sev- eral hours. The day before a small company of volunteers had gone out from Pendleton to Willow Crek, about thirty miles, and fought a band of nearly two hundred Indians. Five of the men were killed and several wounded. It appears that these hostile Indians had expected the Umatilla and Yakima Indians to join them when they reached the reserva- tion in Oregon. In this they were disappointed, although persis- 240 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO tent efforts were made by the hostiles to persuade them to join them. They not only refused to join the hostiles but rendered efficient aid to the Government by helping General Howard fight the hostiles. By July 10th, the Indians seemed to be scattering; some of them were down on the Columbia River; a few had crossed over to the west side; most of them, however, were in the Blue Moun- tains but very much scattered. Reports were to the effect that the Indians would try to make their way up north by following down the Grande Ronde River to where it empties into the Snake River and take up the same route that Chief Joseph had taken the year before. General Howard accordingly distributed his troops at different points where they would be able to strike the hostiles and, at the same time give protection to the small towns and also the stages that carried the U. S. mail. The troops seem to have been located about as follows: Captains Miles, Bendire and Throckmorton on or near the Umatilla reservation; General Whea- ton, Colonel Bernard, and Colonel Forsythe with troops and the scouts on the Blue Mountains after the Indians; Captain Egbert at or near Grande Ronde Valley; Colonel Sanford and his com- mand on Wolf Creek, Powder River Valley. General Howard with a few troops went to Lewiston by steam- er. After increasing his company there, he went up the Snake to the junction of the Grande Ronde with the Snake River. At this point he landed his troops and went through the country up the Grande Ronde River through the land that had been occupied and claimed by Chief Joseph and his band. This route brought them back into Grande Ronde Valley. They did not find any Indians, but, if the Indians had taken this route, as many sup- posed they would, General Howard would doubtless have stopped them and have given them an interesting engagement. On July 12th, a roving band of Indians came down to the Cay- use stage station, situated at the foot of the Blue Mountains on the west side, and took all the stage stock, consisting of fourteen good horses; burned the stage barn with hay and grain, also the blacksmith shop, one stage wagon and one dead-ax wagon, all be- longing to the stage company. Fortunately for the stock-tender, he saw the Indians coming while they were still some distance away, and he ran down a gulch to the Umatilla River, hiding from them as well as possible, and then followed down the river through the brush and timber to Pendleton, reaching that place in safety. There was a dwelling house, store, stable and other outbuildings at this station belonging to a man who lived there with his family. These people were all away at the time the Indians made their BANNOCK INDIAN WAR 241 raid, but had left some of their household effects. Everything was burned. Some of the U. S. troops had been camped at this station until the day before this Indian surprise. On this same day, July 12th, in the afternoon, George Coggan, a prominent business man of Portland and La Grande, and Ed Bunker and Mr. Foster started to go from Meacham station on the Blue Mountains down to Pendleton on horseback. They had gone about eight miles when the Indians fired at them and Mr. Coggan was killed. Mr. Bunker received two severe wounds which I have understood proved fatal. Mr. Foster escaped and rode safely through to Pendleton. The next morning, July 13th, Major Conoyer with thirteen men started up the road to try and find Mr. Bunker, who was so badly wounded that he had been compelled to stop on the road and hide in the brush. Major Conoyer and his men had only gone a short distance when the Indians fired on them, and they had to fall back. Captain Miles soon came up with about one hundred and twenty-five soldiers. He at once engaged the Indians in battle at rather long range. Soon after the battle commenced, more Indians came in at a rapid gait from the mountains to join in the fight. The hostile force kept increasing until they had between three and four hundred war- riors. Captain Miles sent for Captain Throckmorton who came up quickly with some artillery, and as soon as that was put in actions, the Indians began retreating and scattering. This fight lasted from early morning until 6 p. m. About twenty Indians were killed, and the others fled to the mountains. A few days before this, several of the citizens of Umatilla Coun- ty were murdered at their ranches, their houses plundered and their stock killed or driven off. Among those killed was Mr. Charles Jewell, one of the old and much respected settlers. Mr. Jewell had sheep out about thirty-five miles from Pendleton. Hear- ing of the Indian trouble, he procured five or six guns and started to take them to his herders. Arriving at the house of a man near where his sheep were kept, and seeing the man of the house near by, he alighted from his horse to see and talk with this man. No sooner had he gotten down and started for the house than a vol- ley of shots was fired by Indians from the brush close by. The shots hit Mr. Jewell and he was left for dead. The other white man was killed. The Indians took Mr. Jewell's horse and all of his guns, and left, doubtless fearing other white men were near by. After the Indians were gone, Mr. Jewell crawled to the house, went in and got a pair of blankets and a shingle, or piece of board. On this board he wrote: "Charles Jewell shot by Indians is in the brush near by call me if you see this." He His-16 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO crawled to the road, left the board there, and crawled to the brush dragging the blankets with him, and there this poor man lay without water, food, or any assistance, for three days and nights before some parties came along and discovered the board with the writing, when a call was made for him and his feeble answer was heard from the brush. He was taken to Pendleton, where he was properly cared for, but it was too late; he died in a few days. July 15th, Chief Homily of the Umatillas went up the moun- tains from the reservation, with about ninety of his Indians, to recover some horses that the hostiles had stolen from them. They went to Chief Egan's camp, and got him and about thirty of his warriors out for a conference. After they were quietly seated, Chief Homily and his men, at a given signal, jumped onto Chief Egan and his blood thirsty warriors and killed them all. They took Chief Egan's scalp and returned to the reservation, where General Wheaton, with several of his companies, was camped, bearing Egan's scalp on the end of a long pole with the long hair from the scalp dangling in the air. General Howard and several of his officers, up to this time, had entertained some doubts as to whether the Umatilla Indians were going to remain true to the whites and our Government, or whether they were going in with the hostile Indians to help fight against us. Previous to this, the actions of some of them looked so suspicious that General Howard notified them that, if they made an attempt to join the hostiles, he would not only turn his forces against them but would destroy all the property they had on the reservation. Their action in killing Chief Egan and his warriors seemed to be mainly to sat- isfy the officers and the people that they intended to remain true to them and to our Government. After General Wheaton had listened to the report of the killing of Egan and his warriors by these Umatilla Indians, he ordered Colonel Robbins to take his scouts and a lieutenant and a few soldiers and go to the place where the Indians claimed they had left the bodies of Egan and others, dead. This was about two miles southwest of the Meacham station on the Blue Mountains in a flat, open country with but little timber. Colonel Bobbins soon had his men ready and started. Doctor Fitzgerald of the United States Army went with them. On arriving at the place, they had no difficulty in finding the dead Indians just as the Umatilla Indians had reported, thirty in number and Chief Egan among them. The balance of the hos- tiles had apparently left hurriedly. Upon an examination of the body of Chief Egan, it was found that he had been shot just where Colonel Robbins stated that he had shot him when in close quar- BANNOCK INDIAN WAR 243 ters at the battle at Silver Creek, some three weeks before. Colo- nel Bobbins had shot him through the wrist, breaking the bones, and also through the right breast, and one of Robbins' scouts had shot him through the right groin. He was taken from the battle ground by some of his young warriors, his wrist was bound up with willow splints, a pillow laid over the wound in the breast, and the arm was laid on the pillow. The arm and pillow were strapped around his body. In this way he had ridden or been carried for about two hundred miles, over a rough country. But from his looks and the condition of his wounds, Dr. Fitzgerald said that he could not possibly have lived but a few days longer, if the Umatilla Indians had not molested him. He lay dead with his arm bound up, as stated above. Colonel Robbins and Dr. Fitzgerald took Chief Egan's head and wounded arm from his body, put them in a sack and took them back to General Wheaton's camp. This satisfied the army officers and others that the Uma- tilla Indians intended to remain true. It also satisfied all con- cerned that Colonel Robbins was entitled to the credit of killing the noted War Chief Egan, or at least of having given him fatal wounds. General Wheaton moved his men and camp up on the mountain near the Meacham station, while Colonel Robbins went to look after Chief Egan and the other dead Indians. Col. For- sythe came to General Wheaton's camp near Meacham and re- ported that the Indians were badly demoralized and scattering in small bands, and leaving much of their supplies and their poorer horses in the mountains. The death of Chief Egan seemed to have flustrated them. Their three main fighting chiefs, Buffalo Horn, Bear Skin and Egan, had been killed. July 17th, Colonel Sanford struck an Indian camp on Wolf Creek near Powder River Valley, killed seventeen warriors, cap- tured twenty-five squaws and children, and sixty horses. The In- dians scattered in small bands and headed toward the reservations. July 18th, General Wheaton stationed a few soldiers at Cayuse, Meacham and Pelican stage stations on the stage road over the Blue Mountains. He also furnished an escort of soldiers to go with the United States mail stages from La Grande, over the mountain, to the Indian Agency, both ways. A company of volunteers was organized at Walla Walla, com- manded by Captain Charles Painter, who took the field at an early date in the war, and performed good service in protecting life and property. There was also a company organized at Lew- iston, Idaho, commanded by the late Captain Ed McConville, which rendered good service in keeping the hostile Indians out of THE HISTORY OF IDAHO that section of the country, keeping the Indians quiet on the Nez Perce Reservation, and allaying the fears of the settlers. The O. R. & N. Company furnished a steamboat, the Spartan, to carry troops up and down the Columbia River between Umatilla and the John Day River. This steamer and the troops on it per- formed good service in locating the movements of the Indians on either side of the Columbia, and also in capturing and bringing in a few Indians and some horses. There was also a company of volunteers from Nevada, com; manded by Captain , which was organized early in the war, that rendered very valuable services in protecting life and property, covering a large territory from Paradise Valley in Nevada to South Mountain in Idaho, including the stage route from Silver City to Winnemucca. This company is said to have killed several of the hostiles. Early in July, a band of Indians passed through Bitter Root Valley in Montana, killing a few settlers and stealing stock. Lieutenant Wallace, with thirteen soldiers and two citizens, fol- lowed these Indians on to the headwaters of the Clearwater River, overtook them and gave battle for two hours, killing six and wounding two, capturing seventeen bucks and two squaws, and twenty-three head of stock. These Indians were supposed to be a part of Chief White Bird's band of hostile Nez Perces, who es- caped from Chief Joseph's hostiles at the time that Chief Joseph's band was captured at Bear Paw Mountain in Montana by General Miles, in 1877. After the killing of Chief Egan, the Indians seemed to be greatly demoralized, and seemed to divide up in smaller bands and move towards their respective reservations. Col. Sanford's suc- cessful attack on one party of them on Wolf Creek, near Powder River Valley, on July 17th, seemed to give them a further scare. This, coupled with the fact that they had not only failed to get the Indians on the Umatilla reservation to join them in their war against the whites, but that these Umatilla Indians had turned against them and were assisting the U. S. troops in fighting them, seemed to have a demoralizing effect on the hostile Indians. The Indians seemed to think that they could go on the war- path, murder and destroy the property of white settlers at their pleasure. So long as they were successful, they continued their depredations ; but as soon as they began to lose or were getting the worst of the war they divided up and started for their respective reservations, killing and laying waste to all along their path, and as soon as they reached their reservation, they would be protect- ed by the Government Agents as good Indians, it making no dif- BANNOCK INDIAN WAR ference how many white people they had killed or how much property they had destroyed in their war raids. That had been the usual custom. This was the case with these hostile bands of Indians. About the 18th day of July they concluded that they had been getting the worst of the war so they split up and each tribe engaged in the war pulled out for their respective Indian res- ervations, doing all the damage they could to any small unpro- tected parties or property on their route. At this time, most of the U. S. troops were scattered in different localities in the Blue Mountains, Grande Ronde and Powder River Valleys protecting the settlements, mail stages, travel, etc., and trying to locate the hostile Indians. But in this mountainous country, by dividing up and taking different routes at night, they managed to make their escape from the troops and travelled on circuitous routes for their reservation homes. The troops soon discovered that the Indians had left that part of the country and they followed in pursuit, but the Indians were too far ahead and the troops never overtook them again. The Renegade Sheep Eater Indians made their way back to their old haunts by going through the unsettled high lands east of Powder River Valley, and crossed Snake River in the moun- tains below the settlements and passed on through the mountains safe to their old home near the Lemhi. The Malheurs had but little trouble to reach their reservation on the Malheur in East- ern Oregon. The Duck Valley Indians had an unsettled moun- tainous country to travel through to reach their happy reserva- tion home. But it was different with the Bannock Indians whose home was at the Rossfork Indian Agency near Pocatello in the eastern part of Idaho. These Bannock Indians were the ones who commenced the war, and there were more of them engaged in the war than there were of any other tribe of Indians. As soon as they got far enough away from the troops to be out of danger, they left the mountainous country and came down onto the Snake River valley a few miles below what is known as the Owyhee ferry on Snake River. Here they travelled openly and boldly up the valley, cap- turing all the loose range horses on their route. When they were travelling in this way on the south side of the river with a few of their braves ahead as a front guard, on July 31st, when oppo- site the Owyhee ferry about two miles south of the ferry on the main road leading to Silver City, they saw the stage coming and they concealed themselves among the sagebrush and waited for the stage to come. The driver, Mr. Hemmingway, was alone. He 246 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO saw some of these Indians and their horses, some two hundred yards from the place where they were lying in wait for him. As soon as he discovered them, he checked his team and turned them around, and drove back to the ferry as fast as possible. But the moment he started to turn his team, the Indians commenced to fire at him. They mounted their horses and chased him to within a few hundred yards of the ferry. The keeper of the ferry and a few others living on the north side of the river heard the shoot- ing, and seeing the stage coming back and the Indians after it, they gathered their arms and crossed over with the ferry boat, reaching the south bank landing just as the stage got there. The men went up the bank and fired a few shots at the Indians and they galloped away. The driver drove the stage on to the boat, but the poor fellow had received a mortal wound through his breast. He was lifted from the stage and taken across the river to the house and given the best care possible. A messenger was sent post haste to Boise for a doctor, who was sent out at once, but it was of no avail, the wound proved fatal and Mr. Hemmingway passed away that evening. The post carrier brought word that a large body of these In- dians was seen traveling up Snake River on the south side about the time he left the ferry. The first thing the writer of this did, after starting Dr. McKay and another man out with a good team and buggy, was to give orders for a small company of minute vol- unteers to get ready to march as soon as possible. I then went to Fort Boise and got Major Collins, who was in command there, to send all the troops he could possibly spare to the Owyhee ferry on Snake River. He only had about thirteen men, and he sent eight of them. I returned at once to Boise where my volunteers, thirty in number, were almost ready to march. We left in a few minutes, traveling east on the Overland stage and freight road, for the Cold Spring country sixty-five miles from Boise where there were several settlers with their families besides the stage employes, stage stock and other property. I felt sure that from the course the Indians were traveling that they would cross Snake River at what is called Big Bend, thirty miles south of the Cold Springs settlement, and raid that settlement if we did not get there ahead of them, because this was one of their old traveled routes. Our outfit was not very elaborate. We were all mounted on good horses with good guns and pistols. Each man had one pair of blankets tied on behind his saddle, one tin cup, a small amount of thin side bacon, forty pounds of crackers, a small amount of coffee, tea and sugar all put into a pair of alforjas and well lashed on one good stout mule. The sun was just setting as we BANNOCK INDIAN WAR 247 left Boise. We reached Cold Spring the next day at ten o'clock a. m. After traveling all night, very tired and hungry, raw bacon, crackers, and tea made in tin cups, tasted about as good as a breakfast at a Delmonico restaurant. We got there before the Indians did. After getting our lunch, we went to gather in the few families who resided in that locality. Having gotten them all in at the Cold Spring station that afternoon, we sent them that night to Mountain Home station, with a strong guard mounted on horseback, where they arrived safely about daylight the next morn- ing. From Mountain Home, our men returned to Cold Springs, and the families were escorted by some of the settlers on to Boise. That day, August 2nd, we scoured the country for several miles around ; sent six men down in the vicinity of the Big Bend of Snake River where we expected these Indians would cross from south to the north side and come up through the Cold Springs country. Our scouting party did not get back to camp until after dark. They reported that they saw quite a large party of Indians, about twenty miles distant, moving slowly in the direction of our camp. They seemed to have a front guard of about a dozen men. Our scouts exchanged a few shots at long distance with this front guard without any apparent damage to either side. One bullet from the Indians cut through the brim of Jesse Hailey's hat, but did no other damage. They saw the large body of Indians close behind the front guard. Our scouts then returned to camp. We prepared ourselves for an attack that night and kept out a strong guard. Early the next morning twenty-six of our thirty men were in the saddle scouring the country in the direction we expected the Indians to come. We left four men at the station with the stage stock tender and a few other men who resided in that locality. After scouring the country in small parties east, south and west for several miles over the rough sagebrush plain, we all met at a creek about five miles west of Cold Springs station no sign of Indians reported by anyone. Men and horses were very tired. I directed First Lieutenant John S. Gray to stop on this creek, water the horses and let them graze and the men rest, while I went west about two miles to a gulch that led from the moun- tain down on the sagebrush plains, as possibly the Indians might have passed up this gulch in the night to get to the mountains. Lieutenant Gray ordered the men to dismount. I struck out on a gallop. I had not gone far until I heard horses' feet clattering behind me. I looked back and saw James N. Lawrence, one of my volunteers, crowding close on to me. I said: "Hello, Jim, what did you come for? Why did you not stay with the other men and rest until I got back?" He said, in that quiet but determined way he THE HISTORY OF IDAHO had of speaking, "I did not like to see you go alone." These words were few simple and plain but they made a lasting im- pression on my mind. They meant: "We are in a country where there are hostile Indians, and you are liable to run onto them and have trouble. I am going to be and stay with you through what- ever comes." We soon reached the gulch, and there was the plain trail made the night before by the Indians and the stock they had, fifty yards wide the grass all tramped down. Their course was toward the mountains in an easterly direction. We went back to where our men were, had them mount and we started in a northerly di- rection up the creek and struck the Indian trail at the foot of the mountain, where they had crossed the creek and had evidently stopped the night before long enough to kill a cow and cook a part of it, leaving a part of the carcass there. They left the trail and went up the eastern slope of a high, steep mountain that was cov- ered with a thick growth of brush, making it very slow and difficult to ride over. It was late in the afternoon when we reached the summit of this mountain. Here we soon found a good, plain trail the Indians had taken, leading down the mountain in a northeast- erly direction. This trail was very steep, but was only about a mile and a half down through timber until we reached a nice open small valley half to three-quarters of a mile wide. There the trail and sign of fresh travel were plain. We strung out here in single file and made good time, crossing this little valley to the foot of a large, bold mountain. Here we found the Indians had left the trail that led down the valley and had gone up this mountain. We followed, about one mile to the summit. From there, looking down east half a mile in a canyon where there was a good supply of tim- ber, we could see large quantities of smoke. We were then satisfied that the smoke came from Indian camps. We divided our men quickly into three divisions, nine to go up on the north side of the camp, nine on the south side, and the other seven and myself to charge into the Indians' camp. We moved on as rapidly as the rough country would admit of our crowding our tired horses over. Every man was ready and performed his part well. But when we charged the camp, all we found was eight big fires burning; bread, meat, coffee and tea cooking, lots of Indian fixings, such as blankets, old clothes, buffalo robes, etc., scattered around. They had seen us before we got there, and had made a hasty retreat. We only stopped in the camp a minute to find the course the Indians had taken, which was down the rough canyon, no trail ex- cept what they made as they went, the timber and small under- growth being thick. We called to our men on the sides to fall in BANNOCK INDIAN WAR 249 behind on the Indian trail, and away we went down that rough canyon. Every little ways we would pass over some of their camp equipage that they had dropped, or that had been dragged from their pack horses by the small crooked trees on the route. We passed several horses in this canyon they had left in their haste to get away from us. We followed their trail down this canyon about six miles, until darkness came on so we could not see to follow it further. Our men and horses were very tired and hungry. We rested a few minutes, and concluded we would try and go back to the camp from which we had routed these Indians, gather in the horses they had left and destroy their camp supplies. We started back on this rough trail in the dark, most of us leading our saddle horses, for they were tired out. Soon the moon began to give us a little light so we managed to make our way back to the camp left by the Indians, reaching there about twelve o'clock that night. On and near the trail we gathered in about twenty horses, left by the Indians in their flight. We unsaddled and put our horses out to graze near by with a guard. Each of us had a few crackers and a small piece of raw bacon in our cantenas, which we devoured with a relish. There was a spring of fine, cool water there, and we all drank freely of it. There was an abundance of the Indian grub there already cooked beef, bread, coffee, tea, etc., but we were afraid to eat any of it. We rested here until daylight. I then looked the camp over. There were several things in the line of robes, buckskins, etc., that some of the men might need. I called them up and told them to select what each one wanted, and w<; would burn the balance. This was soon done, and we re-kindled the eight fires the Indians had had the evening before, and we piled on and burnt the balance of their camp outfit, wliich kept the fires a-booming more than an hour. We then saddled our horses and started down the canyon on the same rough trail, hoping we might run onto some Indians coming back to get their supplies and lost horses. We had the horses, which we had captured, driven along in the rear. We followed their trail a short distance further than the night before. We discovered that the course they were traveling was a straight course toward the Ross Fork Indian reservation. We were not in a condition to follow them any further in the mountains we, as well as our horses, were pretty well tired out, and we did not have a single bit of anything to eat but we were all in good condition for an engagement with the Indians if we could have gotten a chance at them. After some little consultation, it was thought best for us to try and get back on to the Overland stage road, where we could get something to eat and see what had become of the few men we had 250 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO left at Cold Springs station. None of us ever having been in this part of the country before, we did not know how far we were from the road, nor could we tell just which way it was best to go to get out of the rough mountains. None wanted to go back on the long, circuitous route over which we had come, so we struck in a southerly direction and we soon got on to the headwaters of Cold Spring creek and followed it down, having a fairly good old Indian trail to travel on. This was the trail the Indians intended to have traveled had they not been flustrated by our scouts. On our way down the creek we saw a few Indians a long way off driving a few horses. We started for them. As soon as they saw us they left their loose horses and ran to the rough mountains and were soon lost from our sight. We got the loose horses they were driving, which they had stolen from a rancher lower down the valley. This was a small party of their best warriors, who had left the main band a few days before for the purpose of murdering and stealing. We reached Cold Springs station, where we had left our four men with others, about dark after a hard day's march, and were informed by some men there that our four men had moved down the creek about three miles, to Dan and William McGinniss' place, and had left word for us to come down there ; that Dan and William McGinniss had killed a nice, fat beef and we could get plenty to eat and plenty of hay for our horses, all free of charge. Supplies were short at Cold Springs station, so we struck out for the McGin- nis' ranch and were not long getting there. We were not disap- pointed when we got there. McGinnis had three or four men and our four, who were left, all went to cooking. Mr. McGinnis assigned two lots to us for our horses, with a good-sized haystack near by, with hay forks for us to help ourselves, which we did. By the time we got our horses fed and back to the house, the long table was smoking with hot beefsteaks, hot bread, coffee, etc. I don't remember that any of us washed our hands or faces. Every man made for a beefsteak, a piece of bread and a tin cup of coffee. There was not room at the table for more than half of us. But there was plenty cooked for all, so the old adage, "fingers were made before tables and dishes," was exemplified there, and all went to eating at once and had plenty. After supper I learned that Mr. McGinnis had lost the day be- fore a nice little bunch of mares with a fine stallion. I was sitting down outside of the house thinking over how good and kind the McGinniss brothers had been to us and how sorry I was to hear of his losing a nice bunch of thirteen fine horses, when it occurred to me that the bunch of horses we had captured that day were all nice BANNOCK INDIAN WAR 251 looking and about that number, though I had not paid particular attention to them. I had had them put in with the horses we had captured from the Indians before, and they were driven behind the command by two of our men. While I was thinking over this mat- ter, Dan McGinnis came walking by. I called to him and made in- quiry about his lost horses, and said, "Go with me to the corral and see the horses we captured from the Indians. It may be we have gotten yours." As soon as we got inside the moon was shining bright, "Why," said McGinnis, "there are my lost bunch of horses standing over there in that corner to themselves." He was greatly pleased, and so was I, for I felt then that we had done something for him in return for his generous treatment to all of us. All the men were greatly pleased to find that we had been able to return these horses to their owners, who had treated us so well. We rested some that night, and had a good breakfast the next morning, Aug- ust 5th. The McGinnis brothers insisted on our making our headquarters at their ranch, where they would furnish us with plenty to eat tor ourselves and our horses. That day we divided up in four squads of six and scoured the country thoroughly in every direction, but could Jind no Indians nor any fresh signs. We rounded in at the McGinnis ranch late that evening, where we found a good supper waiting for us, and rested that night. Being satisfied that there were no more Indians in that part of the country and knowing that most of the men who went out with me had business at their homes in Boise which required their atten- tion, after breakfast on the morning of August 6th, and after tendering them my sincere thanks for the noble and good work they had done in preventing the Indians from murdering the un- protected people and destroying their property, I made provision for meals and horse feed for them on the road and directed them to return to Boise to their respective homes. It was necessary for me to stay a few days more to arrange the running of the Overland stage line, which had been somewhat disarranged during this trouble. Here I was again surprised by two of my old friends, who have since passed away. All of my men prepared to start except the late J. B. Oldham, who was then sheriff, and the late Judge John S. Gray. I asked them why they were not getting their horses ready to go with the other men. Each one of them said to me "We intend to stay with you until you are ready to go home. We will not go and leave you to ride around from one stage station to another alone. We are going to stay with you, and help you until you get this stage business fixed up, if it takes all summer.*' Such noble, good and true men! 252 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Language fails me when I attempt to express my gratitude. They, like Mr. Lawrence, feared there might be danger and they were ready, willing and determined to share that danger with me. Brave, noble, good men! I hope they are at rest in a happy land where there are no Indian wars. All left that morning, August 7th, for Boise excepting us three, Gray, Oldham and myself. We put in three days riding back and forth on the stage road, leading and placing some of the stock at their proper stations, where they had been removed during the trouble. After getting everything in good running order and finding no more signs of Indians, on the morning of August 9th we started for Boise. About noon that day we met about two hundred of Uncle Sam's troops, all well mounted, under command of Colonel Bernard. They were moving along nicely in a brisk walk and they did look fine, both officers and men, arms and horses. None of them looked as if they had seen any hard service lately. We had a pleasant chat with the Colonel. He made inquiries about the Indians. We informed him that the Indians had passed through that country one week before, presumably on their way to the Indian reservation; that we had given them a scare, captured most of their supplies and some of their horses, and that the last we heard of them they were on a forced march toward the Indian reservation, where they could get plenty of Uncle Sam's grub, have a good rest and be good Indians for awhile, which place they had doubtless reached before that time. The Colonel was acting under orders from his superior officer, General Howard, who was still further behind. Colonel Bernard put in a number of days scouring the country with his troops, but did not find any Indians. He was a good Indian fighter and quick mover of troops, when allowed to have his own way; and had he not been hampered with the slow and dilatory orders of his superior officer, we think this Indian war would have been closed long before it was. I must not fail to mention the fact that our old friend, the late Captain H. J. G. Maxon, who resided several miles down the valley west of Boise City, had organized a company of about sixty men from among the settlers in the valley some time before, who were to hold themselves in readiness to go at any time when called on to protect life and property on the frontier. The Captain did not hear of the anticipated trouble with the Indians in the Cold Springs country until the next day after we had left Boise. But as soon as he heard of the danger, he gathered his men, who were on their farms, as quickly as possible and they started out late at night, some thirty hours after we had. They made good time. BANNOCK INDIAN WAR 263 They went into the mountainous country east of Mountain Home stage station and scoured the country well and had a hard and laborious trip. They did not find any Indians, but they did good service. Captain Maxon was an old Indian fighter and had a lot of good, brave men with him. If they had ever gotten into an engagement with the Indians, there is no doubt but what they would have acquitted themselves well. Another we must not fail to speak of the late Captain George M. Parsons and his brave volunteers, from the Rocky Bar min- ing district, which is situated nearly one hundred miles north of the Cold Springs country. At the first outbreak of this Indian War in May, Captain Parsons organized a company of some forty volunteers at Rocky Bar from among the mining men. They went to the scene of the first outbreak on Camas Prairie and scoured the country thoroughly for many miles in all directions, but found the Indians had crossed Snake River and gone west and the U. S. troops were after them, so they went back to their homes. But as soon as Captain Parsons heard of the Indians coming back through the Cold Springs country, he got his men together quickly and started and searched the country thoroughly in the moun- tains north and east of Cold Springs, but found no Indians. It was not their fault. They got through as quickly as it was possi- ble for men to get there after they received the news, but we had run the Indians off before they got there. Captain Parsons and all his men, as well as Captain Maxon and all of his men, deserve great credit for their quick and prompt action in this matter. They showed their patriotism and, if they had only had an oppor- tunity to have engaged the Indians in mortal combat, they would no doubt have shown their bravery and good fighting qualities. Well, Messrs. John S. Gray, J. B. Oldham and myself reached Boise on the afternoon of August 10th, 1878, pretty tired but well. Our men with the captured horses had reached Boise three days before, all safe. Here we met General Howard for the first time. He was in camp at the east end of town. He seemed very pleas- ant. The first words he spoke to me, after our greeting, were, "Hailey, I want you to tell me how you managed to move troops as fast as you have been moving your men over the country/' My answer was, "General, my men were all well mounted. We were not encumbered with slow, heavy-loaded pack trains and wagons to wait for. Besides we were not under pay; we went out ex- pressly for the purpose of saving the lives and property of the people from destruction by the Indians. We accomplished our main object, and that without the shedding of blood on either side. The Indians have gone to their reservation, and I think the THE HISTORY OF IDAHO war is over/' The General seemed satisfied with my answer, in fact rather pleased with the last part of it. We had a pleasant talk for half an hour. I must say that I believe that General Howard was a good man and brave on a battle field, but he did not seem to understand how to move his troops fast enough in this mountainous country to catch the Indians. This proved to be the end of the war. Just how many lives were lost, and how much property was destroyed and taken by the Indians, I have no means of knowing with any degree of ac- curacy, but there were many good citizens killed, and many thou- sands of dollars worth of property taken and destroyed. It has been now nearly thirty years since this war closed, and we have had no serious trouble with any of the tribes engaged in that war since, and we hope that we never will again. Before closing this, I desire to call attention to the valuable service that was performed on many occasions by two of our old settlers, James D. Dunn and John R. Carpenter, in the capacity of express messengers for the United States officers. These two brave pioneers carried messages from one command to another many times during the war through the country where the hos- tile Indians were. Alone, each would go with untiring energy, bravery and good judgment. They always got through on good time, and saved their hair. These good old boys are still living. Mr. Dunn lives at Bellevue, Idaho, and Mr. Carpenter resides at Eagle, nine miles west of Boise. Long may they live to enjoy the peace that they helped to bring around in this war! There are many of the good old pioneers who took part in this war, some of them are still living, but most of them have passed to their rest. We would like to mention them all, but we cannot at this late date remember them all. About the horses we captured, we put them in pasture and ad- vertised them. The owners came and got all but a few Indian ponies. These we had sold later on and divided the proceeds of the sale among the men who went out with us. This was the closing scene of our Bannock war expedition. The old boys had a jolly blow-out with the money. CHAPTER XLV. FARMING, MINING, STOCK RAISING AND TRANSPORTATION IN 1877 AND 1878. On account of the Indian wars during 1877 and 1878, but lit- tle progress was made in the development of the country. Not- withstanding this great disturbance, there were some improve- ments made, especially in the farming districts which were not raided by the Indians. Many farms were enlarged and an in- creased amount of hay, grain and vegetables were raised. Unfortunately the mining industry had quite a set-back. It was not safe for small parties to prospect in the mountains dur- ing the Indian trouble, nor to locate at any place remote from set- tlements unless in large parties, and then with a guard constantly on the lookout for Indians. Stock raisers also suffered in both the northern and southern parts of Idaho. Many animals were stolen by the Indians and the stock raisers were prevented from herding their stock on the best ranges, through fear of being raided by the Indians. Transportation, both by means of stage and freight teams was seriously inturrupted by the Indians. Quite a number of the stage horses were stolen, two stage drivers killed and a few sta- tions and stage wagons burned. This trouble with the Indians necessitated having guards at many of the stage stations and es- corts for the stages over some of the dangerous routes. Freighters lost many of their animals and several wagons with their loads of merchandise were burned. In order to protect themselves, the freighters were compelled to travel in large trains together, well armed. It was, generally speaking, two hard years in Idaho in every way, but the people were loyal and undaunted and determined to succeed in spite of obstacles. CHAPTER XLVI. THE TENTH SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE CONVENED AT BOISE CITY JANUARY 13, 1879; ADJOURNED FEBRUARY 21, 1879- The names of the members were as follows: COUNCIL. J. B. Pierce Ada County M. R. Jenkins Ada County Geo. M. Parsons Alturas County James H. Hart Bear Lake County Joseph Travis Boise County Geo. Pettingill Boise County N. B. Willey Idaho County Geo. L. Shoup Lemhi County Geo. A. Manning Nez Perce County J. N. High Oneida County B. J. Nordyke Owyhee County P. A. Regan Owyhee County W. B. Yantis Shoshone County President, N. B. Willey. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Wm. Allison Ada County A. E. Calloway Ada County H. J. G. Maxon Ada County Thos. Gray Ada County C. B. Humphrey Ada County W. H. Butler Alturas County A. L. Meyer Alturas County J. C. Rich Bear Lake County J. W. White Boise County Robt. Spencer Boise County M. G. Harden Boise County G. B. Baldwin Boise County R. H. Robb Boise County Wm. C. Pearson Idaho County D. B. Varney Lemhi County J. W. Birdseye Lemhi County Wm. King Nez Perce County J. J. Bonner Nez Perce County Alex. Stalker Oneida County TENTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 257 D. R. Jones Oneida County G. W. Newsom Owyhee County P. Weatherman Owyhee County Wm. Cooper Owyhee County Geo. Chapin Owyhee County Wm. Nichols Owyhee County R. T. Yantis Shoshone County Speaker, J. W. Birdseye. The members elected were quite equally divided between the two political parties and a great part of their legislative term was lost before they could effect a permanent organization. The Council, however, having a majority of Republicans, were able to effect an organization on the afternoon of the third day, but the House of Representatives did not organize permanently until the afternoon of the twenty-fourth day. This delay caused a great deal of talk and some friction, but after organization, all was serene. One rather amusing incident occurred during this delay. The Governor's message was printed in full in the Idaho Statesman the second or third day after these unorganized houses met, and was read by the people of the Territory about twenty-one days before it was officially delivered. The Governor, however, was not to blame for this mistake. He very naturally supposed an or- ganization would be effected by the second or third day and his message delivered before the copy he gave the Idaho Statesman could be printed. This legislature having spent twenty-four days of the forty allowed them for legislation in effecting a permanent organiza- tion of the house, they had only sixteen days in which to legislate. On the twenty-fifth day, both houses began work in earnest. They gave us about sixty-two pages of laws and several pages of memorials. Among the acts passed was one creating the coun- ty of Washington out of territory taken from Ada and Idaho counties; also an act creating and organizing Cassia County out of territory taken from Owyhee and Oneida Counties. This legislature was economical and did not make any unneces- sary appropriations. The legislators appeared to be quite liberal in granting divorces to those who were dissatisfied with the marriage relation. Some power seems to have brought to bear on one of these cases about the thirty-sixth day, so it passed, and on the fortieth day, five divorce cases were put through in short order. The reader is, of course, aware that all accounts against the Territory had to be presented to the Comptroller and when ap- His-17 258 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO proved by him, warrants were issued by him on the Territorial Treasurer for the amount against the proper fund. These war- rants were usually presented to the Treasurer soon after they were issued and registered by him, and drew interest from their date of registry until paid. The Territory got away behind in the payment of these warrants during the early days when our legis- lators allowed themselves and the federal officers such large, ex- tra compensations, and they funded a lot of these Territorial war- rants into semi-annual interest bearing bonds. The Territorial Comptroller's and Treasurer's reports for 1877 and 1878 show that receipts for these two years were: $78,925.81 Oct. 31, 1876, to balance on hand 15,854.75 Dec. 20, 1878, total receipts $94,780.56 Disbursements : General fund warrants redeemed $44,479-90 Prison fund warrants redeemed 22,869.71 Sinking fund (interest on bonds) 20,042.70 Library fund warrants paid. 118.18 Total disbursements $87,510.49 Dec. 20, 1878, to cash on hand 7,270.07 $94,780.07 Territorial indebtedness, taken from Treasurer's report, Dec. 20, 1878. Bonded debt: Ten-year bonds, act 1875 $22,533.54 Fifteen-year bonds, act 1877 46,715.06 Coupons, interest to December 1 896.32 $70,144.92 General fund: Registered warrants, unredeemed $19,742.00 Accrued interest 2,322.00 $22,064.00 Prison fund: Registered warrants, unredeemed $30,466.89 Accrued interest 6,534.00 $ 37,000.89 Total indebtedness $129,209-81 Less cash on hand 7,270.07 Dec. 1878, total indebtedness $121,939.74 TENTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 259 This shows that the public debt had been decreased about $9,000.00 in the last two years, and it is to be hoped that it will continue to decrease. This was the beginning of the reduction of the Territorial debt. PUBLIC SCHOOLS. A report taken from the county superintendents to the Territo- rial Superintendent for the year 1877, shows the following: Number of children in the Territory between the ages of 5 and 18 years, 4028; number of school districts, 96. Balance of cash on hand at beginning of year $ 4,297.60 Received from county taxes 17,228.68 Received from miscellaneous sources 1,844.89 Total $23,366.17 Expended for teachers' salaries $18,764.46 Report for 1878: Number of children from 5 to 18 years, 4942; number of school districts, 160. Cash on hand at beginning of school year $6,599.65 From county taxes 22,779.65 Miscellaneous sources 3,967.79 Total $33,347.13 Expended for teachers' salaries $23,082.65 It may readily be seen that the number of schools and the annual amount of money received for maintaining schools were increasing. CHAPTER XLVII. WAR WITH THE RENEGADE MIXED BANNOCKS AND SHO8HONE8, CALLED SHEEP-EATER INDIANS 1879. Roaming around the Salmon River Mountains and about the head of the Weiser River and on Big Creek and Loon Creek, there was a small band of Indians at this time. These Indians were a mixture between the Bannock and Shoshone Indians,, and were so mean and trifling that neither tribe would allow them to remain in their camp. They lived mostly by killing mountain sheep, catching fish, robbing prospectors' camps and stealing stock. They were called the Rene- gade Sheep-Eater Indians, and numbered about one hundred, About the 22nd of May, 1879, a party of these Indians made a raid on Mr. Hugh Johnson's ranch, situated on the south fork of the Salmon river, fourteen miles from the town of Warrens. They killed Johnson and P. Dawson, burnt the house and the haystack, and drove away a number of good horses from the ranch. The news of this massacre was sent to Lapwai, Vancouver and Fort Boise. A few troops were stationed at each of these military posts. Lieutenant Catlin started out from Fort Lapwai with about forty soldiers. On May 31st, Colonel Bernard, with sixty soldiers and Colonel Robbins for scout, started out from Boise. About the same time Lieutenant Farrow started from Walla Walla with a few soldiers and twenty Umatilla Indian scouts. The Salmon river country, through which they were to search for these Indians, was very rough with steep mountains, and rugged with rocks and tim- ber. About July 28th Lieutenant Catlin found the Indians at or near what is known as Big Creek, and had an engagement with them. The Indians had the advantage of the ground for fighting, as they were concealed from sight or danger, so the Lieutenant very wisely withdrew his men. In this engagement he is said to have lost one man and some supplies. Colonel Bernard marched his men to a point on Loon Creek, about one hundred miles north of Idaho City, where several China- men had been engaged in mining. From the appearance of things at this place, the Indians had undoubtedly murdered all the China- men, and destroyed their houses and sluice boxes. There was also another small company out, under the command of Captain A. J. Force. Three scouts were also with Captain Force's company, George Sherrer, Barney McVoce and Mr. Haines. SHEEP-EATER INDIAN WAR 261 These scouts under the command of Colonel Robbing, and the troops under the command of Colonel Bernard scoured the rough country searching for the Indians. They could make only a few miles each day, owing to the roughness of the country, and they lost several of their pack mules. The Indians, however, were well acquainted with the country, and could easily dodge from one place to another and keep out of the way of the troops. Colonel Bobbins and the other scouts several times got so close to them that they had to abandon their fish traps, which they had placed in the water, and they were so closely pursued that they discarded some of their supplies and camp outfit. About August 20th, Captain Farrow with his Umatilla scouts ran these Indians into a cleft of rocks on a steep mountainside and captured their horses and mules, about thirty-one head, and also their supplies. It was impossible to dislodge the Indians from the rocks, as they were completely hidden. Colonel Bernard's command was now about out of supplies, and as Lieutenant Patten was expected to arrive at Loon Creek with supplies, Colonel Bernard turned his command toward Loon Creek to meet the supply train. On August 15th a small party of these hostile Indians had sur- prised a Mr. Raines at his ranch on the south fork of the Salmon river. They killed him, plundered and burned his house, and stole his horses. Colonel Bernard's command was now greatly in need of supplies. Colonel Robbins with a few men was sent on ahead to see what had become of Lieutenant Patten and the supply train. They searched several days, living mostly on bread and fish, but could not find the train. Finally Colonel Bernard decided he would have to send to Boise. Colonel Robbins was selected for the hard trip. He was sick at the time, but in spite of suffering he made the trip to Boise in three and a half days, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles. A few days after Robbins left for Boise, Lieutenant Patten and the supply train were found by some of Colonel Bernard's com- mand and piloted to the camp. The Lieutenant had lost the trail in the rough mountains, hence the delay in reaching the command. In the meantime Lieutenant Farrow had talked with the hostile Indians at long range, and they said that if all the troops would withdraw except Lieutenant Farrow with his few soldiers and In- dian scouts, they would surrender to him. They insisted, however, that they must go further west to a place near Snake River known as the Seven Devils' country. The Lieutenant knew the Indians were almost out of supplies and were tired of being chased so closely, so he agreed with Colonel Bernard that they should go to 262 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO the place on Snake river. They came out of their hiding places, and were closely followed by the Lieutenant and his command. They went on to the Seven Devils' country, where they surrendered. There were only about sixty in the band, and they were taken by Lieutenant Farrow to Vancouver. This ended the war with the Renegade Sheep-Eaters. Colonel Bernard and his command arrived in Boise September 5th. Colonel Robbins had arrived a few days before. This was a long and hard campaign. The country was so rough that it made it very hard for both men and animals. It has been rather difficult to get definite details of this Indian trouble, but this account gives the main features of the campaign. This was the last of the Indian wars in Idaho. CHAPTER XLVIII. FARMING, TRANSPORTATION, STOCK RAISING AND MINING IN IDAHO IN 1879 AND 1880. About this time the farming industry began to increase very rapidly. William B. Morris had a canal constructed at a very great expense to carry water and irrigate the table sagebrush land south of Boise. He solved the question as to whether the high sagebrush land was worth the expense of reclaiming by irrigation, and proved that this land was as good as any in Idaho. To him the people of Idaho owe a debt of gratitude. After this first canal, called the Morris, later the Ridenbaugh, was built, the bench land was rapidly taken up as farming land. Orchards and grain fields soon covered the once barren sagebrush plains. Stock raising also increased during these years. Many horses were raised in southern Idaho, and there was an excellent market for them in some of the eastern states. The cattle business was also profitable and many were engaged in this business, and some en- gaged in raising sheep. The transportation was still carried on by the stage lines and freight trains. The mining business had improved somewhat. Some prospecting had been done in the Wood River country, and very good discoveries made of galena ore carrying lead and silver in paying quantities. Work was still continued in the quartz mines near Silver City. Placer mining was carried on quite extensively in Boise County for a few months each Spring, while the water lasted. There was also some quartz mining in Boise County, and quartz mining at Rocky Bar and Atlanta. Some placer and quartz mining was carried on at Elk and Pierce Cities, Orofino, Florence and Warrens. At Custer and Bayhorse, and on Salmon river in Lemhi County a good deal of quartz mining was done, and some placer mining on the Salmon river and its tributaries in Lemhi County. CHAPTER XLIX. THE ELEVENTH SESSION OF THE TERRITORY OF IDAHO CONVENED AT BOISE DECEMBER 13, 1880 AND ADJOURNED FEBRUARY 10, 1881 The names of the members were as follows: COUNCIL. R. Z. Johnson Ada County John Hailey Ada and Washington Counties William Budge Bear Lake County James Murray Boise County S. B. Dilley Boise and Alturas Counties Charles Cobb Cassia and Owyhee Counties L. P. Willmot Idaho County W. F. Anderson Lemhi County J. W. Poe Nez Perce County I. B. Cowen Nez Perce, Ssoshone and Latah County H. Peck Oneida County L. C. Morrison Oneida County President John Hailey. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The names of the members of the House were as follows : A. E. Callaway Ada County J. S. Gray Ada County P. J. Pefley Ada County J. Brumback Ada County I. W. Garrett Alturas County James H. Hart Bear Lake County J. C. Rich Bear Lake County Stephen Demsey Boise County Fred Campbell Boise County R. L. Wood Cassia County E. B. True Idaho County J. W. Girton Idaho County I. L. Underdont Lemhi County J. J. Gilson Lemhi County I. N. Hibbs Nez Perce County S. S. Langdon Nez Perce County J. M. Hedrick Nez Perce County W. B. Webster Oneida County Joseph Dudley Oneida County ELEVENTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 265 Alex Stalker Oneida County D. R. Jones Oneida County J. W. Cummings Owyhee County Wm. Nichols Shoshone County T. M. Jeffries Washington County Speaker E. B. True. This session of the Legislature continued for sixty days, an act of Congress having extended the time from forty to sixty days. The Council organized on the first day, and the House on the second day. They worked faithfully and passed some good laws. Among these was a complete revision of our Code of Civil Procedure. The work of compiling this Code was due almost wholly to the Hon. R. Z. Johnson and Judge John S. Gray. Mr. Johnson was a member of the Council, and Mr. Gray a member of the House. They had done the greater portion of compiling these laws before the Legis- lature met, and the members had such confidence in their ability and integrity that their work of compilation was accepted and enacted into law by the Legislature with but very few amendments. It was discovered at this session that our Territorial tax levy of seventyfive cents on the hundred dollars of taxable property was bringing in more money than was necessary to meet current ex- penses and to pay interest on the bonded debt, the principal of which would not become due for several years. So the Legislature passed an act amending our revenue laws by reducing the ad valorem Territorial tax on property from seventy-five cents to forty cents on each hundred dollars of assessable property. A bill was also passed of great importance to Boise City creating the Boise City Independent School District. The bill provided for a board of trustees, also named the trustees and made provisions for them to have what is now called the Old Central School House built and to establish a graded school. Several accounts of the origin of this graded school have been given in the Boise papers during the last few years, none of which are correct. At this time, Hon. R. Z. Johnson was a member of the Council from Ada County, and the writer of this was also a member of the same legislative body. We both resided in the small capital city of Boise, and both had chil- dren attending school in Boise. Soon after the session commenced, we met together to talk over needed legislation for the Territory. Very naturally the question of schools came up, and we came to the conclusion that it would be well to have a graded school in the Capital City. We discussed the matter of consolidating the different schools, the cost and manner of issuing bonds to pay for the building, and many other matters connected with the school. In order to find out if the people, the taxpayers, 266 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO would approve of this plan we thought it well to have a meeting of the people before preparing a bill and presenting it to the Legis- lature. For this purpose we got out posters and had them put up all over the town, inviting the taxpayers to come to the Council hall in the evening and talk over legislation in reference to school matters. The night of the meeting the hall was crowded with people and the writer addressed them on the subject, giving them the proposed plan and stating in conclusion that we did not want an opinion from them that night, as the question was new to them, but would like for them to consider it for three days and come back the third evening to the hall and be prepared to give a definite answer. On the third evening the house was crowded, many more than on the first night. I went over the proposed plan once more very carefully, and the question was discussed thoroughly. It was then put to a vote as to whether we should have this desired change made and enacted into law. The vote was unanimous in favor of the change and the proposed law. The bill was drawn by Mr. Johnson that night, and passed the Council on the 26th of January, 1881. The names of the trustees were as follows : Christopher W. Moore, Hosea B. Eastman, John Lemp, Peter J. Pefly, Charles Himrod and Richard Z. Johnson. This bill was approved by the Governor February 4, 1881. The next act of importance to the people of Ada County passed by this Legislature provided for the erection of a county court house and jail at Boise City. An act was also passed to amend the city charter of Lewiston, and an act for an independent graded school at Lewiston, in Nez Perce County. The following acts were also passed: Appointing the Governor of Idaho and one citizen as Commis- sioner to contract for the maintenance and care of the insane people in Idaho, and an act imposing a license on insurance companies for school purposes. An act to regulate the distributing of water for irrigation pur- poses. An act to regulate the sale and prevent the smoking of opium. Many other important laws were enacted. At this time a report, made by a committee of the Council to investigate the treasurer's accounts, shows that on February 21, 1881, after all outstanding warrants were paid, there remained in the Territorial treasury eighteen thousand nine hundred and fifteen ($18,915) dollars. This did not include the bonded debt, which amounted to sixty-nine thousand two hundred and forty-eight ($69,248) dollars. This would not become due for several years. ELEVENTH SESSION OF LEGISLATURE 267 SCHOOLS. In the year 1879 there were 4,885 school children in Idaho, and 114 school districts. In 1880, the number of school districts had increased to 149, and the school children to 6,698. In 1879, the amount raised for school purposes was $34,255, and in 1880 the amount raised from the same sources and for the same purposes was $48,016.89. This shows that the number of children had in- creased about 37 per cent in one year, and the means to pay for their education had increased correspondingly. CHAPTER L. THE WOOD RIVER MINING DISTRICT IN 1880 AND 1881. During the years 1880 and 1881 the mining industry very ma- terially increased. This was caused principally by the discovery of a new mining country in the Wood River district, Alturas County. There was a rush of people into that locality and a large amount of development work done on the mining locations. The ore was principally galena, carrying lead and silver in paying quantities. This ore had to be smelted and, as there was no smelter on Wood river at this time, it was taken by freight teams to the railroad at Kelton, a distance of one hundred and seventy miles, and shipped from there to Salt Lake or Denver to be smelted. This was very expensive, but most of it shipped in this way netted the owners a fair return. Several small towns were quickly built in this mining locality, the most prominent of which were Bellevue, Hailey and Ketchum. A little later a small smelter was erected near Hailey. Some farming land was located along the river and on Silver creek. The people were prosperous, and the new mining camp very thriving for a few years. There were but few changes in any of the other mining or agri- cultural districts during the years 1880 and 1881. Everything seemed to run aljng slowly, easily ax.?l smoothly. Stock raising and ion wtv about the sarre as last leported. CHAPTER LI. TWELFTH SESSION OP THE LEGISLATURE OP THE TERRITORY OP IDAHO CONVENED AT BOISE DEC. 11, 1882 ADJOURNED FEB. 8, 1883. The names of the members of the Twelfth session are as follows : COUNCIL. J. V. R. Witt Ada County Thos C. Galloway Ada and Washington Counties C. E. Robinson Bear Lake County James Travis Boise County E. A. Wall Alturas and Boise Counties E. P. Johnson Custer and Lemhi Counties P. A. Regan Owyhee and Cassia Counties James Odle Idaho County W. L. Webster Oneida County Henry Peck Oneida County Wm. S. Taylor Nez Perce and Latah Counties I. B. Cowen Nez Perce, Shoshone and Kootenai Counties President E. A. Wall. HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES. D. W. Fouch Ada County J. P. Wilson Ada County I. N. Coston Ada County H. K. Hartley Ada Counnty E. M. Willson Alturas County A. R. Wright Bear Lake County H. S. Wooley Bear Lake County R. H. Robb Boise County Fred Campbell Boise County W. C. Martindale Cassia County J. C. Shoup Custer County W. C. Pearson Idaho County Robert Larimer Idaho County O. A. Dodge Kootenai and Shoshone Counties James A. Hay wood Lemhi County A. Buchanan Nez Perce County K. Larson Nez Perce County G. W. Tomer Nez Perce and Latah Counties C. J. Bassett Oneida County D. L. Evans Oneida County 270 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO M. L. Grunnell Oneida County J. B. Thatcher Oneida County J. M. Harbour Owyhee County F. M. Hickey Washington Countj Speaker, D. W. Fouch. This Legislature gave us about one hundred and seventy-three pages of new laws, including many amendments to former laws. The members of the different legislatures seemed to have differed very greatly as to the laws they considered should be in force in the Territory. Certain laws would be enacted by one body of Legis- lators, and at the next session they would be repealed or amended, and various new laws enacted. So it was somewhat difficult for the average layman to keep posted as to what the law really was in fact, laws would be repealed before many residents had time to read them. Among some of the important acts passed by the Twelfth Legis- lature was: An act requiring county auditors to transmit annual reports to the comptroller of the financial condition of their counties under oath. Also an act for registering the names of electors and preventing frauds at elections. An act to establish a public school system, and for the main- tenance and supervision of the same. An act amending the revenue laws, reducing the Territorial tax levy from forty cents to twenty-five cents on the one hundred dollars. An act appropriating three thousand dollars, or so much thereof as might be necessary, for the support of poor emigrants in and around Boise City, to be expended by a committee. The Territorial treasurer's report dated November 11, 1882, shows, after all outstanding warrants had been paid, all interest on the bonded debt and all other claims, a balance in the Territorial Treasury of forty-one thousand eight hundred and sixteen dollars and ninety-seven cents ($41,816.97). The bonded debt at this time was as follows: Interest bearing bonds 10 per cent per annum. Act 1875, due 1885 $22,533.54 Act 1877, due 1891 46,715.06 Total $69,248.60 Whole bonded debt 69,248.60 Deduct from this cash in the treasury 41,816.94 This left the Territorial indebtedness $27,431.66 CHAPTER LII. FARMING, TRANSPORTATION, STOCKRAISING AND MINING IN 1883 AND 1884. Farming and farmers flourished during the years of 1883 and 1884. There were better markets for the farm products and trans- portation facilities were greatly improved, so there was more of an incentive for the farmer to cultivate his land. A railroad was now miming through the eastern part of Idaho in a northerly direction, via Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Market Lake and Beaver Canyon in Idaho, to Butte, in Montana. The Great North- ern was running through the northern portion of Idaho in an east and west direction and the Oregon Short Line had lines through the southern portion of Idaho. In 1884 there was still a gap of seventy miles where stages were run. This distance was between Baker City in Oregon and Weiser in Idaho. The stage men were losers by the railroads being built in Oregon and Idaho, but the population of the territory began to rapidly increase with the improved travel- ing facilities, and there were opportunities for many new lines of industry. Stock-raising increased, as stockmen were now able to ship their surplus stock, wool, hides, etc., east on quick time and at more reasonable rates. The mining industries also received new life. Having quicker and cheaper transportation for ore and being able to have the proper machinery shipped in, many more mines were developed and some of them paid well. The population began to increase with permanent settlers far- mers, storck raisers, merchants, miners, lawyers, doctors, and minis- ters. The people seemed to take on a new supply of energy and began in earnest to improve and develop the resources of the coun- try with the view of making permanent homes. CHAPTER LIII. THIRTEENTH SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE TERRITORY OI* IDAHO. Convened December 8, 1884; adourned February 5, 1885. The names of the members of the Council were as follows. COUNCIL. George Pettingill Ada County T. C. Galloway Ada and Washington Counties James S. Hart Bear Lake County Ben Willson Boise County E. C. Brearley Alturas and Boise R. L. Wood Cassia and Owyhee Counties Charles A. Wood Custer and Lemhi Counties S. C. Poage Idaho County S. G. Isaman Nez Perce County S. W. Moody Nez Perce, Shoshone and Kootenai Counties George N. Crawford Oneida County H. W. Smith Oneida County President Charles A. Wood. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Charles J. Simpson Ada County D. W. Fouch Ada County M. H. Goodwin Ada County D. S. Lamme Ada County J: K. Watson Alturas County W. N. B. Shepherd Bear Lake County Amos R. Wright Bear Lake County G. B. Balding Boise County M. G. Luna Boise County W. C. Martindale Cassia County J. C. Fox Custer County W. S. M. Williams Idaho County Philip Cleary Idaho County J. P. Clough Lemhi County W. F. Kern Nez Perce County R. P. Quarles Nez Perce County L. P. Willmott Nez Perce County D. A. Jones Oneida County THIRTEENTH SESSION LEGISLATURE 273 C. M. Hull Oneida County A. R. Stalker Oneida County W. B. Green Oneida County David Adams Owyhee County William King Shoshone County George F. Adams Washington County Speaker, D. W. Fouch. An act passed at this session of the Legislature for the erection of the Capitol building at Boise City and for an issue of eighty thousand dollars in bonds to pay for the same. This act also provided for an issue of twenty thousand dollars in bonds to build an insane asylum at Blackfoot. Other acts were passed, among which were the following: An act authorizing the appointment by the Governor of three commissioners to revise and compile the laws of the Territory and to submit them to the next Legislature. An act creating the office of Attorney General for Idaho, making the appointment by the Governor and fixing the salary at $2,000.00 per annum. An act re-apportioning the members for future legislatures in Idaho. An act creating Bingham County. An act providing for holding elections and prescribing the quali- fications for electors and for other purposes. The anti-Mormon test oath was embodied in this act. An act fixing the amount of bonds for County officers to give. This Legislature also passed a number of acts for the issuance of bonds by different counties to build school houses and for other purposes. It will be remembered the Territorial taxes were reduced at the Eleventh session from seventy-five ments on the hundred dollars to forty cents, and a further reduction was made by the Twelfth ses- sion from forty cents on the hundred dollars to twenty-five cents. In spite of this reduction in the taxes, the financial condition of the Territory was better than it ever had been. The Territorial Treas- urer's report for November 14th, 1884, showed the bonded debt not yet due to be $69,248.60; cash in general fund, $54,395.59; library fund,$l, 670.56; school fund, $426.39- This was the amount at that date, and a large amount of taxes were still unpaid for that year. On page 6 of Hon. James L. Onderdonk's Territorial Comp- troller's report, under date of November 15th, 1884, we find the following: "Our Territory is practically out of debt, our only indebtedness being the two classes of bonds with accruing interests, as follows: His 18 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Act of 1875, due Dec. 1st, 1885 $22,533.54 Act of 1877, due Dec. 1st, 1891 46,715.05 Total $69,248.59 There was in the treasury at this time the sum of $56,490.54. By statement in the report, "There was due from the Counties on Ter- ritorial taxes, $35,980.54. The greater part of this amount was to be paid during the quarter. This, together with the amounts re- ceived from poll taxes and licenses, after deducting expenses of collecting and the necessary disbursements, would leave about $80,000 in the treasury at the beginning of the next quarter. "To meet the first class of indebtedness due December 1, 1885, with interest, would require about $25,000, and at the rate of ex - penditure, there should be a fund largely in excess of what would actually be required." This was certainly a good showing under a low tax levy of 25 cents on the one hundred dollars. As an indication of the prosperity of the Territory, the Comptroller issued the following table: Year. No. of Taxpayers. Assessment Roll. 1878 3,892 $ 4,520,800.50 1879 5,518 5,926,149.60 1880 5,600 6,408,089.14 1881 6,961 8,066,365.75 1882 8,162 9,339,071.05 1883 10,533 13,938,412.31 1884 12,272 15,479,598.38 This shows an increase in seven years of something over three hundred per cent, in the number of taxpayers and a corresponding increase in the amount of assessable property, all of which was very gratifying. CHAPTER LIV. FARMING, TRANSPORTATION, STOCK-RAISING, MINING, 1885 TO 1887- It had been fully demonstrated by this time that Idaho was an excellent farming and fruit country. Grain of various kinds had been grown successfully with a good average yield to the acre. Vegetables of various kinds were grown in abundance. Berries and fruits of many kinds were grown and were of a very fine quality. The Oregon Short Line had been completed through the southern part of Idaho and with the increased facilities for transportation, stock raising had increased. A number of new mines had been opened up in Shoshone County and the population had increased greatly. The Wood River mining country had also developed very much. There was still some work going on at Atlanta and Rocky Bar. The De Lamar mine, near Silver City, in Owyhee County, was a large producer of gold and silver and gave every indication of continuing for many years. The schools had increased throughout the Territory and the people generally were successful in all their business enterprises. A branch railroad had been built and put in operation from Sho- shone, on the Oregon Short Line railway, to Hailey, in the Wood River mining district, a distance of fifty-seven miles. Daily trips were made over this branch, connecting with the main Oregon Short Line at Shoshone. This was a very great saving and convenience to the people of the Wood River country. It gave them much quicker and cheaper transportation than they had ever had before. CHAPTER LV. FOURTEENTH SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE TERRITORY OF IDAHO. Convened December 18, 1886, adjourned February 10, 1887. The names of the members of the Council were as follows: COUNCIL. Charles Himrod Ada County R. H. Robb Ada and Boise Counties James H. Beatty Alturas County E. C. Helfrich Alturas County H. W. Smith Bingham County P. L. Hughes Bingham and Oneida Counties E. H. Jordan Bear Lake, Oneida and Cassia Counties Robert Larimer Idaho County A. J. McNab . . . . Lemhi and Custer Counties Charles Watson Nez Perce County James I. Crutcher Owyhee and Washington Counties A. E. Mayhew Shoshone and Kootenai Counties President, A. E. Mayhew. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. D. L. Badley Ada County George Goodrich Ada County H. M. Goodwin Ada County E. G. Burnett. Alturas County J. J. Guheen Alturas County G. W. Hunter Alturas County T. B. Shaw Alturas County R. W. Gee Bear Lake County T. A. Hartwell Bingham County C. B. Wheeler Bingham County Josiah Cave Boise County Charles Cobb Cassia County J. C. Fox Custer and Bingham Counties John S. Rohrer Custer County Frank A. Fenn Idaho County J. P. Clough Lemhi County James DeHaven Nez Perce County A. S. Chancy Nez Perce County W. A. Elyea Nez Perce County FOURTEENTH SESSION LEGISLATURE 277 Wm. B. Thews Oneida County John S. Lewis Owyhee County R. S. Harvey Shoshone County John M. Burk Shoshone and Kootenai Counties M. L. Hoyt Washington County Speaker, Wm. B. Thews. The Thirteenth session of the Legislature had passed an act enti- tled, "An Act to Provide for the Revision and Compilation of the Statutes Laws of the Territory of Idaho." This act authorized the Governor to appoint a commission of three persons to perform this work and fix the compensation and made an appropriation of four thousand dollars for this purpose. The Governor, Wm. Bunn, ap- pointed as commissioners, Hon. R. Z. Johnson, Hon. H. E. Prickett, and John S. Gray. All of these men were well qualified in every respect to perform this important work. Soon after they entered upon their duties, Mr. Prickett died very suddenly. Hon. James H. Beatty was appointed to fill the vacancy. These commissioners worked long and faithfully and when their revision was presented to the Fourteenth Legislature, the Legisla- ture not only adopted their revision of the laws, but also passed a joint resolution authorizing these commissioners to include all the laws passed at the Fourteenth session in the general revision, and place them in their proper places for publication. The laws were arranged under the following heads: Part 1st, Political Code; Part 2nd, Civil Code; Part 3rd, Remedial Code; Part 4th, Penal Code. These revised statutes were published and went into effect on the 1st day of June, 1887. This work reflected great credit upon the commissioners and was of great convenience to the attorneys of Idaho and of great assistance to the average layman. The Legis- lators appropriated four thousand dollars to pay for the publication of these revised laws of Idaho. The financial condition of the Territory is shown by the following report, made to the Legislature by a committee appointed for that purpose: Outstanding warrants $ 4,877.52 Outstanding bonds, act of 1877 46,715.16 Outstanding capital building bonds 80,000.00 Outstanding asylum bonds 20,000.00 Total $151,592.68 Cash on hand In Capitol sinking fund $ 7,478.59 In Library fund 1,307.56 278 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO In School fund 1,165.64 In General fund 2,699.61 Total $ 12,651.40 This seems to be a rather poor financial showing ; still, the people had something to show for the money that had been spent. The bonded debt of $22,533.54 that became due on the 1st of December, 1885, had been paid, and the bonds taken up. The Cap- itol building had been completed and the insane asylum built. Both buildings were furnished and in use. Expenses had, however, necessarily increased and this Legislature passed an act increasing the tax levy for Territorial purposes from 25 cents to 35 cents on the hundred dollars of assessable property. CHAPTER LVI. FIFTEENTH SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE TERRITORY OF IDAHO. Convened at Boise December 10, 1888; adojurned February 7, 1889- Recommendations of Governor Shoup to First State Legis- lature ; assessable property, etc. The names of the members of the Legislature were as follows: COUNCIL. J. D. Negley Ada County Fred Campbell Ada and Boise Counties Charles McPherson Alturas County W. Y. Perkins Alturas County S. F. Taylor Bingham County J. P. Clough Custer and Lemhi Counties T. F. Nelson Idaho County J. W. Bingham Nez Perce and Latah Counties J. N. Ireland Oneida and Bingham Counties Thomas Sparks Oneida, Cassia and Bear Lake Counties E. S. Jewell Owyhee and Washington Counties A. E. Mayhew Shoshone and Kootenai Counties President, J. P. Clough. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. D. L. Badley Ada County J. M. Martin Ada County M. A. Kurtz Ada County J. H. VanSchaick Alturas County H. H. Clay Alturas County Ira S. Waring Alturas County H. Z. Burkhart Alturas County James Lyons Bear Lake County W. H. B. Crow Bingham County Geo. P. Wheeler Bingham County Geo. W. Groton Bingham and Custer Counties J. A. Bruner Boise County E. A. Jordan Cassia County Geo. W. Emery Custer County C. M. Day Idaho County O. W. Mintzer Lemhi County A. S. Chancy Nez Perce County J. J. Mitcham Ne Perce County 880 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO James DeHaven Nez Perce County R. H. Davis Oneida County Geo. W. Sampson Owyhee County J. C. Sargent Shoshone County J. Rand Sanburn Shoshone and Kootenai County Marion Kilborn Washington County Speaker, H. Z. Burkhart. This was the last session of Territorial Legislature in the Terri- tory of Idaho. The next session was under State government. Idaho was admitted into the Union of States on July 3rd, 1890. The last Territorial Legislature did not enact as many laws as some of our former Legislatures. They gave us only seventy-seven pages, including laws, memorials and resolutions, but they managed to increase both our current expenses and our bonded debt ; also our Territorial taxes. Among the important bills passed at this session was "An Act to Establish the University of Idaho at Moscow." This act provided for a board of nine regents to be chosen from the Territory at large, which board the Governor should appoint by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council, and $15,000 was appropriated out of the Territorial treasury to enable the re- gents to procure suitable grounds and plans for the buildings, and for the expense of the regents, and an additional ad valorem tax of one-half mill was levied by this act on each dollar of assessable property in the Territory to create a building fund to pay for the construction of the University buildings; this tax to be collected and used for this purpose for four years. Another act was one creating and organizing the Counties of Elmore and Logan, and defining the boundaries of Bingham and Alturas Counties. This act caused an abundance of litigation and expenses amounting to many thousands of dollars, and a great deal of ill-feeling among some of the people of Alturas County, and after several years resulted in more litigation and the wiping out of old Alturas County and Logan County and creating in lieu thereof the Counties of Blaine and Lincoln, with a re-adjustment of the boundary lines. The heavy debt that was hanging over old Alturas, together with the expensive litigation, made taxes very oppressive in these Counties for several years, but at last things quieted down and all seem to be getting along fairly well. There was also an act to appropriate $15,000 for improvements at the Idaho Insane Asylum; also an act authorizing the appoint- ment of four commissioners to look after the improvement of the Capitol grounds, and appropriating $14,630 to enable the commis- sioners to have the grounds fenced, and the yard properly improved FIFTEENTH SESSION LEGISLATURE 281 with paved walks, graded, seeded, and trees and shrubbery set out. Also an act to provide for a wagon road between Mt. Idaho in Idaho County and Little Salmon Meadows in Washington County. This act authorized an issue of six per cent, bonds for $50,000 to raise funds to construct this road. In addition to these appropriations, this Legislature passed several relief bills amounting to a few thousand dollars. It appears from the report of the Territorial Comptroller, Hon. J. H. Wickersham, for the years 1887 and 1888, that the current expenses of the Territory paid out of the Territorial treasury, in- cluding interest on the bonded debt, was about $75,000 for each of those two years, and that the amount of assessable property was, for 1887, $20,095,495, and for 1888, $21,624,747. On this prop- erty was levied by law an ad valorem tax for territorial purposes of thirty-five cents on each one hundred dollars, and in addition, five cents on each one hundred dollars to raise a fund to build a State University at Moscow, in Latah County, making the total levy for Territorial purposes forty cents on each one hundred dollars of assessable property within the territory. This, with the license and poll tax, brought in sufficient revenue for all necessary purposes. In order to show that the people in Idaho have necessarily had to practice economy in governmental affairs in past years, I herewith give the amount of the assessment rolls for each year for the whole Territory, beginning with the year 1864 and including 1888. There were little or no taxes collected in the year 1863, because it was too late in the year before the officers were appointed and the machinery of the Territory and County governments could be put into working order, but there was considerable expense incurred in the year 1863 which had to be paid by the Territory in after years. During this long period of twenty-six years, our tax levy ranged between 25 and 100 cents on each hundred dollars of taxable property, and the Territory was able to meet her obligations. COPY OF TERRIRORIAL ASSESSMENT ROLLS. Assessment for 1864 $ 3,687,304.49 Assessment for 1865 5,184,322.20 Assessment for 1866 5,016,290.00 Assessment for 1 867 4,000,000.00 Assessment for 1868 4,621,984.49 Assessment for 1869 5,544,501.36 Assessment for 1870 3,665,705.55 Assessment for 1871 3,919,148.82 Assessment for 1872 3,624,747.72 Assessment for 1873 4,362,589-72 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO Assessment for 1874 4,543,022.49 Assessment for 1875 4,652,919-13 Assessment for 1876 4,381,277.46 Assessment for 1877 4,319,958.75 Assessment for 1878 4,520,800.50 Assessment for 1879 5,926,149.60 Assessment for 1880 6,408,089-14 Assessment for 1881 8,066,365.75 Assessment for 1882 9,339,071.65 Assessment for 1883 13,938,412.31 Assessment for 1884 15,497,598.34 Assessment for 1885 16,230,530.84 Assessment for 1886 17,725,122.31 Assessment for 1887 20,090,495.77 Assessment for 1888 21,624,747.74 It will be seen by a look at these assessment rolls that it was six- teen years before our annual assessment roll reached $6,000,000. During all these years the Territory of Idaho was as large in area as the State now is, and a few people were settled in each and every County. It is true, the United States government paid annually about thirty thousand dollars more of our Territorial expenses than she now pays, but add that amount to the $75,000 that it was cost- ing the people of the Territory the last few years of Territorial government, and it would make only $105,000 per annum then, as against several hundred thousand dollars per annum now. When the Territorial government was merged into a State government, business and things of a public nature were in a fairly good condi- tion, with good public schools in each and every County, a good, new Capitol building with grounds well improved, an insane asylum, etc., and a Territorial debt of less than $200,000. We have been unable to get any report of either the Territorial Comptroller, the Treasurer or the Superintendent of Public In- struction showing the financial condition of the Territory and the condition of public schools in Idaho for the year 1889 and up to the close of the Territorial days, December 8, 1890. We have, how- ever, through the courtesy of the Honorable ex-Secretary of State, W. R. Gibson, procured the loan of a copy of the late Governor George L. Shoup's message to the First State Legislature under date of December 10, 1890, in which he gives a condensed statement of the financial condition of the territory at the time it entered upon statehood; also a statement of the number of public schools, etc. Being fully satisfied that the statements given in the Governor's message are true and correct and his recommendations for appro- priations were made after a careful examination of the amounts FIFTEENTH SESSION LEGISLATURE 283 that were necessary for current expenses, in order to show the finan- cial condition of our Territory at the time it entered into statehood, as well as to show that our late lamented first Governor and Senator was a clear-headed, honest and competent officer and believed in economy in governmental affairs, I here copy from his message all he said under the head of finance, beginning on page 3 and ending on page 6 of his message: "Next to the legitimate object of every important enterprise is the financial basis upon which it rests. This is not only the case in the affairs of nations, states and counties, but also in all business affairs, whether company, corporate or individual enterprise. I will therefore present to you the indebtedness of this State as it appears on the Comptroller's books, balanced on the 15th day of November, 1890, with estimates of expenses for the fiscal years 1891-2, obliga- tions that will mature, needed appropriations, and resources from which revenue can be derived. INDEBTEDNESS. Outstanding bonds, Act of 1877 $ 46,715.06 Capitol building bonds, Act of 1885 80,000.00 Insane Asylum bonds, Act of 1885 20,000.00 Wagon road bonds, Act of 1889 11,000.00 Outstanding warrants 105,571.52 Total $263,286.58 Less cash in general and capitol building fund 27,116.58 Leaving balance indebtedness $236,170.00 "In January the several County Treasurers make their settle- ments with the State Treasurer. The outstanding warrants will then be reduced to about $35,000, leaving the outstanding indebted- ness as follows: Bonded indebtedness, less amount in Capitol building fund $134,556.00 Outstanding warrants 35,000.00 Total indebtedness $169,556.00 "By an act of the Fifteenth session of the Territorial Legisla- ture, $50,000 was appropriated for the construction of a wagon road from Mount Idaho to Little Salmon Meadows. Bonds drawing six per cent, interest covering the above appropriation have been sold at a small premium, but only $11,000 delivered to the purchasers. The remaining $39,000 are to be delivered as funds are required on completion of contracts, which will be late in 1891. 884 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO "The bonds issued under the act of 1877, amounting to $46,- 715.06, mature and become payable December 1, 1891- Provision must be made for their redemption. "The Capitol building bonds for $80,000 fall due in 1905, and are drawing interest at the rate of seven per cent, per annum, and may be redeemed at the pleasure of the State at any time after ten years from the date of their issue. There is a sinking fund for the payment of the interest and redemption of these bonds maintained by one-tenth of all State and County licenses and from the rents derived from the Capitol building. There is in this fund $23,158.61. This money is lying idle. I therefore recommend that you author- ize its investment in State warrants where it will draw interest, thereby adding another source of revenue to this fund. If so em- ployed and with the continuance of the percentage obtained from licenses this fund will liquidate the bonds before they mature. The Insane Asylum bonds, $20,000, bear interest at the rate of six per cent, per annum; $5,000 of these bonds fall due December 1, 1892, and $5,000 per annum thereafter until all are paid. "The expenses during the first year of statehood will be greater than in succeeding years. After a careful investigation, I present the following estimates : Executive Department $ 19,500.00 Judicial Department 46,500.00 Legislative Department 31,000.00 Insane Asylum 20,000.00 State Prison 20,000.00 Conveying prisoners to Penitentiary 3,000.00 State Prison Library 75.00 Capitol Building expenses 3,260.00 Militia 5,000.00 Interest on indebtedness 10,200.00 Library, etc 4,000.00 Commissioner of Labor, Immigration and Statistics .... 5,000.00 Code Commission, printing of proceedings of Constitu- tional Convention, etc 10,000.00 Total $177,535.00 "I estimate the assessed value of property in the State in 1891 at 1,000,000 and recommend a levy of sixty-five cents on the hundred dollars for general fund purposes. This would give an income of $182,000.00 Estimated income from poll tax 8,000.00 From insurance licenses and fees from Secretary of FIFTEENTH SESSION LEGISLATURE State and State Treasurer's offices 4,000.00 Total $194,000.00 "The tax levy would then be classified as follows: For general fund purposes, 65 cents; for State University at Moscow, 5 cents ; for wagon road purposes, 2 cents. Total, 72 cents on each $100 of assessable property. "I recommend that the outstanding bonds of the act of 1877, amounting to $46,715.06, and falling due December 1, 1891, be refunded and that issuance of bonds be authorized for all ap- propriations for public buildings. "As a considerable part of the expense of the Columbian Expo- sition will not be required until 1892, I recommend that warrants be drawn on the ganeral fund covering your appropriation for that purpose. The expense of State government for the second year of statehood should not exceed $130,000.00. "The reports of the State Auditor and State Treasurer will be laid before you. The Auditor's report covering the financial trans- actions of the Territory for the past two years is very complete and comprehensive and his suggestions worthy of careful and thoughful consideration." It will be seen by the Governor's message that the total amount of Territorial indebtedness at the time we took on statehood, less cash in the treasury, was $236,170.00, and that when the Terri- torial portion of the taxes for 1890 was paid in a month later, that the indebtedness would be reduced to $169,560.00. This certainly shows that the financial condition of the Territory at the time it was transferred to and came under State government was in a good healthy state. Had the expenses of State government not execeed- ed what our then Governor estimated, to- wit: "For the first year, $177,535.00, and second year, $130,000.00," with our rapid increase of taxable property, we would long since have been out of debt, had taxes lowered and had money in the treasury to meet all de- mands on a cash basis. But this has not been done. While our population and our taxable property has increased since 1890 about three hundred per cent, the current expenses of our State govern- ment have increased at a more rapid rate, and the tax levy for State purposes was raised the first year of statehood from forty cents on each one hundred dollars of assessable property to almost double that amount, and has continued so ever since. It seems that this high rate of taxation on all of the three hundred per cent in- crease of property since statehood, is necessary to pay the current expenses of State government, and to pay the interest on several THE HISTORY OF IDAHO hundred thousand dollars of bonded debt incurred since statehood, the principal of which the people will have to pay sooner or later by taxation. I respectfully suggest that it is about time to call a halt on the issuing of any more bonds and to try to pay up, rather than to increase the debt. We have a fine State with great resources, we want people with wealth, brains, energy and muscle to come and settle here and help us develop the God-given resources of our new State. We will drive or keep them away by running extravagant State and county governments, which always oppress the people with high taxation. We think it about time for our lawmakers and State officers to pause and look around and see if they have not loaded on to the taxpayers about as much as they can bear up under, and try in the future to lessen their burdens rather than increase them. Again we copy from Governor Shoup's message of December 10, 1890, to the first session of our State legislature, what he had to say about the public schools in Idaho at the time we entered statehood. This subject is discussed on pages 14 and 15 of the Governor's message referred to, as follows: PUBLIC SCHOOLS. "The public schools of the State are in a prosperous condition. The report of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction has not yet been received, but is promised at an early day. I have, however, obtained the following summary which by comparison with the school year ending August 31, 1888, shows, gratifying gains. 1888. 1890. Number of school districts 337 410 Number of school houses 269 315 Children of school age 20,433 25,741 Amount received for school purposes in 1888, $158,512.69; in 1890, $202,235.47. Balance on hand September 1, 1890, $34,592.93. "While our school system is not perfect in all respects, yet it has in the past proved to be satisfactory, and our schools are in a prosperous condition. I cannot, therefore, recommend its re- vision at your first session when your time will be heavily taxed with other important and urgent legislation." I have made the above quotations from our late lamented Gover- nor Shoup's message to our first State legislature, first, because they come from a man who was perfectly reliable and stated nothing but facts. Second, to show the condition of our public schools at FIFTEENTH SESSION LEGISLATURE 287 the time we took on statehood; and last, but not least, to show how much more expensive our legislatures and State officers have made the current expenses of our State government than our first Gov- ernor anticipated they would be for many years. Had our law- makers followed the suggestions made by this grand and patriotic Governor who believed that no more State offices should be cre- ated than were actually necessary, and that every officer should earn his salary, the burdens of taxation would have been very much lighter on our people, and our public debt would now be very much less than it is. Before closing this chapter, I desire to call attention to the magnificent gifts the Congress of the United States conferred on Idaho in the act admitting her into the Union of States, in the way of public lands for different purposes. They are as follows: For scientific schools 100,000 acres State Normal schools 100,000 acres Support and maintenance of Insane Asylum 100,000 acres Charitable, educational and reformatory institutes. . .100,000 acres State University 50,000 acres Support and maintenance of Penitentiary 50,000 acres Agricultural College 90,000 acres Capitol Building 32,000 acres University purposes, act of 1881 46,080 acres In addition to the above, Congress has given to the State of Idaho for public school purposes two sections of land in each town- ship of thirty-six sections, amounting in this last gift to one-eigh- teenth of all the land in the State. Reduced to acres, it amounts to about 3,000,000 acres. True, the greater portion is in the moun- tains, but it will all be valuable in time to create an irreducible fund to educate future generations. In addition to the above, Congress gave to Idaho the United States Penitentiary with its equipment and one hundred and sixty acres of land connected therewith. CHAPTER LVII. NAMES OF GOVERNORS, SECRETARIES,, FEDERAL JUDGES, U. 8. ATTOR- NEYS, U. S. MARSHALS AND TERRITORIAL OFFICERS DURING TERRITORIAL DAYS. The reader will remember that during our Territorial days the President of the United States had power with the advice and con- sent of the United States Senate to appoint the following officers for the Territory: Governor, Secretary, Judges, U. S. Attorney, and the U. S. Marshal. Idaho certainly had her full share of these appointments, both in number and variety. Several of those ap- pointed governors never came to Idaho, some would come and stay a short time and go away on leave of absence, remaining away most of the time, not forgetting to draw their pay but leaving the duties of the office to be performed by the Secretary of the Ter- ritory. Fortunately the Secretary was usually more agreeable to the people than the Governors. The names of the Governors ap- pointed for Idaho with the date of appointment are as follows: William H. Wallace appointed March 10, 1863 Caleb Lyons appointed February 26, 1864 David W. Ballard appointed April 10, 1866 Samuel Bard (never came) appointed March 30, 1870 Gilman Marston (never came) appointed June 7, 1 870 Alex. H. Connor (never came) appointed January 12, 1871 Thos. M. Bowen (stayed one week) appointed April 19, 1871 Thos. W. Bennett appointed October 24, 1871 D. P. Thompson. appointed March 16, 1875 Mason Brayman appointed July 24, 1876 John P. Hoyt (never came) appointed August 7, 1878 John B. Neil appointed July 12, 1880 John R. Irwin appointed March 2, 1883 Wm. M. Bunn appointed March 26, 1884 E. A. Stevenson (first resident) appointed September 29, 1885 Geo. L. Shoup (second resident) appointed April 1, 1889 TERRITORIAL SECRETARIES. Wm. Daniels appointed March 10, 1863 C. DeWitt Smith appointed July 4, 1864 H. C. Gilson (skipped with funds) . . .appointed September 4, 1865 S. R. Hewlett appointed July 26, 1866 E. J. Curtis. appointed May 4, 1869 TERRITORIAL OFFICERS 289 E. J. Curtis appointed February 5, 1874 R. A. Sidebotham appointed April 29, 1878 Theodore F. Singiser appointed December 22, 1880 Edward L. Curtis appointed March 3, 1883 D. P. B. Pride appointed July 2, 1884 E. J. Curtis appointed February 12, 1885 E. J. Curtis appointed February 12, 1889 Idaho was divided, during her Territorial existence, into three judicial districts. The President appointed a Judge for each of these districts, and these three District Judges constituted the Su- preme Court of the Territory. One of these judges was always designated as the Chief Justice, and he was the presiding officer of the Court when they met once a year as a Supreme Court. The other two were the associate justices. The following are the names of the Chief Justices appointed by the President: Sidney Edgerton appointed March 10, 1863 Silas Woodson appointed July 26, 1864 John R. McBride appointed February 28, 1865 Thos. J. Bowers appointed July 18, 1868 David Noggle appointed April 9, 1869 M. E. Hollister appointed January 14, 1875 Wm. G. Thompson appointed January 13, 1879 J. T. Morgan appointed June 10, 1879 J. B. Hays appointed August 14, 1885 H. W. Weir appointed September 29, 1888 James H. Beatty appointed May , 1889 ASSOCIATE JUSTICES. A. C. Smith appointed March 10, 1863 S. C. Parks appointed March 10, 1863 Milton Kelley appointed April 17, 1865 John Cummins appointed May 29, 1866 R. T. Miller appointed July 1, 1868 J. R. Lewis appointed April 15, 1869 Wm. C. Whitson appointed July 12, 1870 M. E. Hollister appointed March 20, 1871 John Clark appointed January 14, 1875 H. E. Prickett appointed January 19, 1876 Norman Buck appointed January 27, 1880 Case Broderick appointed May 1, 1884 John Lee Logan appointed May 18, 1888 C. H. Barry appointed August 13, 1888 Willis Sweet appointed 1889 His 19 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO CLERKS OF THE SUPREME COURT. A. L. Downer appointed June 9, 1864 Wm. J. Young appointed March 31, 1866 Sol. Hasbrouck appointed March 1, 1868 Don. Noggle appointed July 5, 1869 Thos. Donaldson appointed May 11, 1871 Wm. D. Hughes appointed January 4, 1872 E. C. Sterling appointed February 4, 1872 A. L. Richardson appointed March 26, 1872 S. H. Hays . appointed 1 889 Sol. Hasbrouck appointed March 10, 1890 UNITED STATES MARSHALS. D. S. Payne appointed March 13, 1863 J. H. Alvord appointed April 17, 1865 H. W. Molton appointed 1869 Joseph Pinkham appointed March 25, 1870 E. S. Chase appointed May 10, 1878 F. T. Dubois appointed September 4, 1882 Ezra Baird appointed September , 1886 U. S. ATTORNEYS. G. C. Hough appointed February 29, 1864 A. Huggan appointed 1868 J. W. Huston appointed April, 1869 Norman Buck appointed May, 1878 James R. Butler appointed May, 1880 W. R. White appointed May, 1881 James H. Hawley appointed May, 1885 DELEGATES TO CONGRESS. W. H. Wallace. unexpired term, January 4, 1864, to March 4, 1865 E. D. Holbrook, two years March 4, 1865, to March 4, 1867 E. D. Holbrook, two years March 4, 1867, to March 4, 1869 J. K. Shafer, two years March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1871 S. A. Merritt, two years March 4, 1871, to March 4, 1873 John Hailey, two years March 4, 1873, to March 4, 1875 S. S. Fenn, two years March 4, 1875, to March 4, 1877 S. S. Fenn, two years March 4, 1877, to March 4, 1879 George Ainslie, two years March 4, 1879, to March 4, 1881 George Ainslie, two years March 4, 1881, to March 4, 1883 T. F. Singiser, two years March 4, 1883, to March 4, 1885 John Hailey, two years March 4, 1885, to March 4, 1887 F. T. Dubois, two years March 4, 1887, to March 4, 1889 F. T. Dubois, two years March 4, 1889, until statehood TERRITORIAL OFFICERS 291 The names of the Territorial officers appointed by the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the legislative council are as follows: AUDITOR. John M. Bacon appointed July 23, 1863 B. F. Lamkin appointed September 23, 1863 B. F. Lamkin appointed February 6, 1864 B. F. Lamkin appointed December 23, 1864 H B. Lane appointed January 27, 1867 (Name of office changed to Comptroller and Superintendent of Schools.) Wm. R. Bishop appointed May 14, 1867 Daniel Cram appointed January 1, 1868 Daniel Cram appointed January 16, 1869 Daniel Cram appointed January 16, 1871 Daniel Cram appointed January 7, 1873 Joseph Perrault appointed January 15, 1875 Joseph Perrault appointed January 15, 1877 James L. Onderdonk appointed February 14, 1881 James L. Onderdonk appointed February 14, 1883 S. W. Moody appointed February 7, 1885 J. H. Wickersham appointed February 11, 1887 J. H. Wickersham appointed February 8, 1889 NAMES OF TERRITORIAL TREASURERS. D. S. Kenyon appointed September 7, 1863 D. S. Kenyon appointed February 8, 1864 Ephriam Smith appointed May, 1864 E. C. Sterling appointed January 7, 1867 E. C. Sterling appointed January 16, 1869 J. S. Gray appointed January 16, 1871 John Huntoon appointed February 16, 1872 John Huntoon appointed January 7, 1 873 John Huntoon appointed January 15, 1875 John Huntoon appointed January 15, 1877 John Huntoon appointed January 15, 1879 John Huntoon appointed January 15, 1883 Joseph Perrault appointed February 12, 1885 Charles Himrod appointed February 12, 1887 Charles Himrod appointed February 8, 1889 SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. J. R. Chittenden appointed December 23, 1864 W. R. Bishop appointed July 25, 1866 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO (From 1867 to 1887 this position was consolidated with that of Comptroller.) S. W. Moody appointed February 11, 1887 C. C. Stevenson appointed February 11, 1899 ATTORNEY-GENERALS. D. P. B. Pride appointed February 7, 1885 R. Z. Johnson appointed February 5, 1887 R. Z. Johnson appointed February, 1889 (This office was not created until 1885.) SURVEYOR-GENERALS. LaFayette Cartee appointed August 13, 1866 LaFayette Cartee appointed 1869 LaFayette Cartee appointed April, 1873 Wm. P. Chandler appointed 1878 Wm. P. Chandler appointed 1881 J. W. Straughn appointed 1885 W. H. Pettet appointed 1889 We have given the names of several of these federal officers in another chapter, but have concluded to give them all here for a convenient reference. CHAPTER LVIII. INTERESTING ITEMS TAKEN FROM THE BOISE NEWS OF 1863 AND 1864, A NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED AT IDAHO CITY BY T. J. AND J. S. BUTLER THE FIRST PAPER PUBLISHED IN THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF IDAHO TERRITORY. "PROCLAMATION." "By the Governor of the Territory of Idaho: "Whereas, by the 15th Section of the Act of Congress approved March 3, 1863, to provide a temporary government for the Terri- tory of Idaho, until otherwise provided by law, the Governor of said Territory may define the judicial districts of said Territory, and assign the judges who may be appointed for said Territory to the said districts, and also appoint the time and places for holding courts in the several counties and subdivisions of each of said judi- cial districts by proclamation to be issued by him; "Now, therefore, be it known that I, William H. Wallace, Gov- ernor of the Territory of Idaho, by virtue of the authority vested in me by said act do define the judicial districts as follows: "For the First district, the Counties of Idaho, Nez Perce and Sho- shone; for the Second district, the County of Boise; for the Third district, the County of Missoula and the country east of the Rocky Mountains. "Courts to be holden in the First district for the County of Idaho at Florence on the first Monday in February, 1864; for the County of Nez Perce at Lewiston, on the third Monday in Febru- ary, 1864; for the County of Shoshone at Pierce City, on the first day of March, 1864; in the Second district, for the County of Boise at Bannock City (now Idaho City) on the second Monday of February, 1864; in the Third district for the County of Mis- soula, at Hell Gate, on the second Monday in February, 1864; in the country east of the Rocky Mountains at Bannock City (east) on the second Monday of March, 1864. "The Judges will be assigned as follows: "To the First district, Judge A. C. Smith ; to the Second district, Judge Samuel C. Parks; to the Third district, Judge Sidney Ed- gerton. "Given under my hand at Lewiston, this, the eighteenth day of November, 1863. (Signed) W. H. WALLACE. B. DANIELS, Secretary I. T." THE HISTORY OF IDAHO On account of the murder of Lloyd Magruder, a special term of court was held at Lewiston in January, 1864, by Judge Samuel C. Parks, to try the Magruder murderers. From the Boise News, December 26, 1863, we take the following: "Justice Walker fined himself five dollars on Thursday morning for becoming angry in court and swearing at an attorney." We copy the following from the Boise News of December 26, 1863, published at Bannock City (now Idaho City), giving the prices of groceries, dry goods, etc.: "Corrected weekly by Higbee & Company, dealers in general merchandise, groceries and provisions, corner (Main and Wall Street, Bannock City. "Prices Current: N. B. The prices stated for produce are the buying prices; for groceries and general merchandise, the selling prices. "Groceries and Produce: Butter, per Ib $1.25 Potatoes 25 to 30c Green Apples 50c Dried Apples 50 to 55c Dried Peaches 65 to 75c Shoulders 60c Chickens, per doz $36.00 Eggs, per doz 2.00 Ham, per Ib 75c Soap, per Ib 40 to 50c Lard, per Ib 70 to 80c Salt, per Ib 35 to 40c Beef, on foot, per Ib 12%c Side Bacon, per Ib 60 to 70c Syrup, per gallon $5 to $6 Tea per Ib $1.50 to $2 Flour per 100 Ibs 33 to $36 Onions, per Ib 25 to 30c Rice, per Ib 50c Sugar, per Ib 50 to 70c Coffee, per Ib 70 to 75c Candles, per Ib $1.00 Tobacco, Nat. Leaf, per Ib 1.60 to $2.25 Tobacco, sweet, per Ib 1.30 to $1.50 Beans, per Ib 40 to 45c Nails, cut, per Ib 40 to 50c INTERESTING NEWSPAPER ITEMS 296 Clothing: Women's Kip Boots $30.00 Women's Calf, per pair 6.00 Men's Kip Boots, per pair 9-00 Men's Brogan Shoes, per pair 3.50 Men's Calf Boots 12.00 Woolen Drawers, per pair $1.50 to $2.00 Red Drawers, per pair $2.50 to $3.00 Men's Quilted Brogans $3.50 Gum Boots, long legs $12.00 Gum Boots, short legs 11.00 Men's Cavalry Boots $12.00 to $15.00 Men's Boots, long gr $10.00 Cal. best Blankets $16.00 Salem Blankets $13.00 to $15.00 Oregon Socks, per doz $9-00 Best Cal. Wool Shirts $3.00 to $4.00 Buck Gloves, per doz $18.00 to $30,00 Red Undershirts, per doz $30.00 to $36.00 Wines and Liquors: Best Champagne, per doz $48.00 Best Champagne, per case 96.00 Cal. Wine, per case 24.00 Claret Wine, per case 24.00 Sherry, per gal. in wood 7.00 Port, per gal. in wood 7.00 Schnaps, per case 24.00 Bakers Bitters, per case $24.00 to $30.00 Bakers Bitters, per case $24.00 to $30.00 Goddard Brandy, per g $10.00 Juler R. & O. per g $10.00 Pelivosin & Silt, per g $6.00 to $7.00 Hermitage Whiskey, per g $7.00 Essence of Old Va., per g $7.00 Magnolia, per g $6.00 to $6.50 Eureka Whiskey $6.00 Cutler Whiskey $7.50 Kerosene Oil, per gal $8.00 to $9.00 (The above prices were usually paid in gold dust at the rate of $16.00 per ounce, when the real value of the gold dust was only $14.50 to $15.00 per ounce.) From the Boise News, Idaho City, Idaho, Saturday, February 27, 1864: THE HISTORY OF IDAHO "The first term of the district court in and for Boise County convened here last Tuesday, the 23rd inst., Hon. Samuel C. Parks presiding. This county having more population at that time than the balance of the territory, and never having had a term of court held in the county, there was a large number of civil and criminal cases on the docket. "The first order of the court was the issuance of a venire return- able on Thursday morning, the 25th, for thirty-six persons pos- sessing the qualifications of jurors. "The next matter taken up was the examination of the certifi- cates of attorneys. The following gentlemen having shown to the court that they had been admitted in other states and territories, after taking the oath of allegiance prescribed by statutes, were enrolled as members of the bar as follows : "Geo. C. Hough, J. K. Shaffer, Edward Nugent, Geo. I. Gilbert, H. L. Preston, John S. Gray, A. Heed, John Cummins, Daniel Mc- Laughlin, Frank Miller, I. N. Smith, R. B. Snelling, Geo. Ainslie, E. D. Holbrook, C. B. Wait, V. S. Anderson, J. S. Hascall, W. C. Rheem, W. R. Kethly, R. A. Pierce, J. J. Morland, H. W. O. Margary and Joseph Miller. As there was no other business before the court for that day, the Judge stated that he felt it his duty to make a few remarks, which were as follows: "Gentleman of the Bar: Before proceeding with the regular business of the term, I owe it to myself, to you and to the people of this county to make a few remarks. The position of a Judge of the second judicial district was not sought by me. In saying this, I do not say that the position is not an honorable one. On the con- trary, it is one of which an abler man than I am might well be proud. But it was my desire and expectation, and I believed it was yours, that the Chief Justice of this Territory should be assigned to this district. There is in this part of the Territory far more population and legal business than in either of the other two districts. There are many cases here involving character, liberty and life; there are others here on which depend large pecuniary interest. It is doubt- ful whether any court in so new a country ever needed more ability, integrity and experience. "This district properly belongs to Judge Edgerton, not only from his position as Chief Justice, but from his high moral and offi- cial character, and his large experience. But circumstances rendered it inconvenient, if not impossible, for him to be here; while the pressure of business in your court, the crowded state of your jail, and the natural impatience of your people made it necessary that a INTERESTING NEWSPAPER ITEMS 297 court should be held at as early day as possible. Under these cir- cumstances, Governor Wallace assigned this district to me. I con- sented to the arrangement reluctantly, and with a deep sense of the responsibility it devolved upon me. To some, and perhaps to a con- siderable extent, the property, the liberty and the lives of many men depend upon my action in this court. I do not think that any Judge can always decide aright; I know that I can not. All that I promise is that to the best of my ability I will discharge the duties incumbent upon me, and by so doing strive to secure the confidence of the Bar and of the people. And from my acquaintance for some months past with some of your numbers, and the cordial greeting you have extended to me on my arrival among you, and the uniform courtesy with which you have treated me since, I feel confident I shall have your assistance in the effort to make this court a means of suppressing disorder and wrong, and promoting good morals, harmony and peace. "Whatever popular prejudice there may be against the profession of the law, it is a useful and noble one calculated, when properly pursued, to expand and elevate the mind and heart, and has fur- nished many of the loftiest intellects and purest characters that have adorned the history of our race. Associated in fraternal re- lations with the members of such a profession here, I cannat doubt that I shall find them in the conduct of the business of this court devoted to the real and substantial interest of their clients, and not to technicality and free form ; relying for success not upon arti- fice and fraud, but upon professional knowledge and skill labor- ing not to embarass but to assist the court. "Amid the difficulity and embarassments of an untried position of an unfamiliar practice and of heavy responsibility, I rely for success much upon your assistance and generosity. In some degree my reputation depends upon the result of this court; if it shall not succeed, I am sure the fault will not be yours. Hoping that it may not fail, and that the just expectation of the community may not be disappointed, I enter upon the discharge of the duties of the office assigned me. Boise News, February 27, 1864: Appointments of county offi- cers. The following is a list of the officers sent in by the Governor and confirmed by the council to hold the offices until the next gen- eral election in Boise County. "Sheriff, Summer Pinkham. "Probate Judge, Daniel McLaughlin. "County Commissioners, John C. Smith, Frank Moore, Henry I. Crow. 898 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO "Auditor, Washington R. Underwood. "Treasurer, Charles D. Vajen. "Assessor, George Woodman. "Justice of the Peace, Idaho City, Charles Walker. "Justice of the Peace, Centerville, J. H. Johnson, C. W. Depuy. "Justice of the Peace, Placerville, T. H. Stringham, Chas. Wood- bury. "Justice of the Peace, Boise City, Daniel S. Holton. "Notary Publics, John Cummins, Henry C. Anderson, George I. Gilbert, C. J. Fitzgerald. "Constable, Idaho City, John G. Howell. "Constable, Centerville, Edward Thore. "District Attorney for 2d district, Geo. C. Hough." Rates charged by Wells Fargo & Company's Express from Boise Basin to San Francisco and intermediate points in 1864; taken from their advertisement in the Boise News of May 21, 1864: "Rates from Idaho City, Placerville, Centerville and Pioneer City will be as follows: To San Francisco $1000.00 or over, insured 4^2 P er cent Under $1000.00, insured 5% per cent To Portland, $1000.00 or over, insured 3% per cent Under $1000.00, insured 4% per cent To The Dalles, $1000.00, or over, insured 3l/ 2 per cent Under $1000.00, insured 4 per cent Umatilla, $1000.00, or over, insured 314 per cent Under $1000.00, insured . . 4 per cent Walla Walla, $1000.00, or over, insured 3 per cent Under $1000.00, insured 3% per cent LaGrande, insured 2^/2 per cent Auburn, insured 2% per cent (Signed) Wells Fargo & Company. J. J. Smith, Agent. "Boise News, published every Saturday evening by T. J. and J. S. Butler, Editors and Proprietors. Terms invariably in advance. Rates of Subscription: One Year $12.00 Six months 7.00 Three months 4.00 Single copies .50 Rates of Advertising: For one insertion, one square $5.00 One square (10 lines or less) 4 insertions 8.00 INTERESTING NEWSPAPER ITEMS 299 "All advertisements of half column or more will be inserted by special contract. "Advertisement to insure insertion must be handed in as early as Monday, and the number of insertions noted on the margin." Taken from the Boise News, published at Idaho City, Saturday January 23, 1864. CHAPTER LIX. ITEMS TAKEN FROM THE IDAHO TRI-WEEKLY STATESMAN IN THE SIXTIES. Boise City, Thursday, September 15, 1864. James S. Reynolds & Co., Proprietors. Terms of Subscription: copy one week, payable to carrier $ 1.00 copy one month by mail or express 3.00 copy 3 months by mail or express 6.00 copy 6 months by mail or express 10.00 copy one year by mail 20.00 Agents supplied on liberal terms. Terms invariable in advance. Rates of Advertising: 1 square, (10 lines or less) 1 insertion $ 3.00 1 square, 2 insertions 4.00 1 square, one week 5.00 1 square, one month 10.00 1 square, two months 15.00 1 square, three months 20.00 1 square, six months 30.00 y column, 1 insertion 5.00 34 column, 1 week 10.00 14 column, 1 month 15.00 % column, 3 months 30.00 i/4 column 6 months 50.00 1/2 column, 1 insertion 8.00 1/2 column, 1 week 1 5.00 % column, 1 month 25.00 1/2 column, 3 months 60.00 1/2 column, 6 months 90.00 column, 1 insertion 15.00 column, 1 week 30.00 column, 1 month 45.00 column, 3 months 90.00 column, 6 months 150.00 Transient advertisements to insure insertion must be paid for in advance. ITEMS FROM STATESMAN SOI Special notices charged for at the rate of one dollar a line, each insertion. Office corner of Main and Sixth Streets." From Idaho Statesman of September 15, 1864: "Personal. Governor Wallace (now delegate to Congress) and his lady arrived in town last Tuesday and put up at the Iowa House. The Governor started for Owyhee yesterday morning, whence he will return in a few days and address his constituents at this place. Notice will be given. Col. Drew also started back to join his command." From Idaho Statesman of October 8th, 1864: "Governor Lyons arrived at the Fort late last evening. He was greeted by the firing of cannon. We have not had a chance to take him by the hand, but shall today and bid him a hearty wel- come." From Idaho Statesman, October 19, 1865: "Several of our hotels have raised the price from twelve to four- teen dollars per week for board. The next fluctuation in the price of flour will very likely produce another change. They are fre- quent." From the Idaho Statesman: First National Bank of Idaho, Boise, I. T. Authorized capital, $500,000.00, with circulation. Paid up capi- tal, $100,000.00. Organized March 11, 1867, under act of Congress, approved June 3rd, 1864. (Signed) B. M. DuRell, President. (Signed) C. W. Moore, Cashier. Correspondents and Agents: National Bank of North American, New York City. National Bank of Commerce, Boston, Mass. Union National Bank, Philadelphia, Pa. First National Bank of St. Louis, St. Louis, Mo. Bank of California, San Francisco, Cal. Ladd & Tilton, Portland, Oregon. B. M. DuRell & Co., Idaho City, Idaho. DuRell & Moore, Silver City, Idaho. (This bank is still in existence on a large scale in Boise, and C. W. Moore is the President.) From the Idaho Statesman, March 9, 1867: "The latest information from General Crook is that he is on his THE HISTORY OF IDAHO way to Harney Lake. He had gobbled a few Bucks on the way, but had not had any important engagement. He expects to find In- dians more plenty at the point of destination." From the Idaho Statesman, March 14th, 1867: "Special Notice: -Fire Company. There will be a meeting of the citizens of Boise City held at the Court House on Friday even- ing at 7 o'clock for the purpose of organizing a Hook and Ladder Company. A general attendance is desired." From the Idaho Statesman, March 30, 1867: "General Cartee intends to start next week to look for a proper initial point from which to commence the public surveys." (This was the beginning of the surveys of Idaho.) From Idaho tri-weekly Statesman, July 27, 1867, Jas. S. Rey- nolds, Editor. Volume IV: "Today the Statesman commences the fourth year of its publica- tion. Three years ago we issued the first number of the tri-weekly with no U. S. mail running nearer Boise City than Umatilla in Ore- gon, and no express except a pony which was run between Humbolt and Idaho City by the lamented McCommons, who afterwards lost his life by the Indians. The prospects did not look very encour- aging to start a newspaper of any kind in Boise City at that time, and every one predicted that the Statesman would fail in three months. It has, however, made its tri-weekly appearance ever since. In a few weeks after its first appearance, Wells, Fargo & Co., es- tablished an office here for their express, and Ben Holliday com- menced the regular trips of his overland stage from Salt Lake to Umatilla.The placer mines of Idaho were then in their period of highest productiveness, and all manner of excitement ran at the very highest speed. Speculations were abundant and further hopes looked as big as continents. They have not in every instance been realized. The metaliferous veins of quartz just begun to be dis- covered, and their extreme richness promised such great develop- ments that Idaho was looked upon as the richest spot on earth and the place to secure the largest fortune in the shortest space of time. The development and progress of the country has been very much slower than was then anticipated. We all expected before this time to see twenty quartz mills in successful operation, where there is one now. And this is the chief and about the only disap- pointment there is to note. Various causes have contributed to re- tard the development of the quartz mines of Idaho. They cannot be enumerated here, but we will say in candor and earnestness that no man whose opinion is worth anything and who knows anything ITEMS FROM STATESMAN SOS about the subject, but is now convinced that our mines are richer and more numerous than they were ever before believed to be. Our mines are as good, yes, many of them are far better than was dream- ed of three years ago; but there have been less capital and labor intelligently expended in making them productive than we hoped to see. During these three years some important changes have tak- en place in Idaho. Like all placer mines, ours are beginning to show signs of wearing out. There is consequently not the same periodical rush in the spring that there was then. Nearly all the loose and mi- gratory population has drifted away and left the country possessed of only permanent settlers. Then every article of consumption was brought from Oregon or California. Now the valley produces enough for home consumption. The price of oats and barley has been re- duced from 18 and 20 cents per pound to 8 cents per pound, and all other farm produce in proportion. The price of lumber is re- duced from one hundred dollars per one thousand feet to forty dollars, and the cost of living, more than one-half. Boise City, from being no place at all, has grown to be the most important in the territory, and will soon number the largest population. Six lines of stages on four different routes arrive and depart each day. Another one if not two more will shortly be added to this number. Wells, Fargo & Co. dispatch daily their express in four directions and thirty different U. S. mails arrive and depart each week. It has already become the central point of business, and more improve- ments are now going on than at any previous time. Three years ago the Boise and Payette valleys were just being settled by the first squatters that took possession. The Boise valley is now almost one continuous field for fifty miles in length on both sides of the river, dotted every now and then with orchards just beginning to bear their first specimen fruits. "The capabilities of soil and climate have been so far tested as to establish our independence of foreign produce in the future. A few companies have failed in mining, but not until they had de- veloped and established the fact that it is useless to seek elsewhere for richer mines; while many more are slowly opening their mines and surely laying the foundation for fortunes. All things consid- ered, Idaho Territory was never at any time really so prosperous as at the present time. The general decline of business consequent upon the wearing out of the placer mines, was looked for by every sensible man. But the growth of quartz interests has not equalled expectation. "We begin, however, our fourth year's work in Idaho as cheer- fully as we did the first, and with greater assurance that the Statesman will continue to make its appearance as heretofore. We 304 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO propose making no promises for the future except this: That the Statesman is a fixed institution and that we shall continue to en- courage as well as we are able, but without exaggeration, every material interest in the Territory. The support we receive in the circulation of the paper and its advertising patronage are suffi- cient evidence to us that we have in a good degree met the expec- tations of the people/' (We have copied the above from the pen of James S. Reynolds, because it gives a fair statement of the condition of things in gen- eral in southern Idaho at that time. Mr. Reynolds passed away some years ago, but his writings are still with us. May he rest in peace !) From the Idaho Statesman, November 14, 1867. (Written by Jas. S. Reynolds, Editor.) "For Brothers and Sisters: Family intimacies should never make brothers and sisters forget to be polite and sympathetic to each other. Those who contract thoughtless habits towards the mem- bers of their own family will be rude and thoughtless to all the world. But let the family intercourse be true, tender and affec- tionate and the manners of all be uniformly genteel and consider- ate, and the members of the family thus trained will carry into the world and society the habits of their childhood. They will re- quire in their associates similar qualities. They will not be satis- fied without mutual esteem, and the cultivation of the best affec- tions and their own character will be sustained by that faith in goodness which belongs to a mind exercised in pure and high thoughts." CHAPTER LX. CREATION AND ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES IN IDAHO AREA OF LAND IN ACRES IN EACH COUNTY SURVEYED AND UNSURVEYED MILITARY, INDIAN AND FOREST RESERVATIONS AND AREA OF LAKES UP TO DECEMBER, 1907. Before the passage of the act of Congress creating the Territory of Idaho, approved March 3, 1863, the legislature of Washington territory had by legislative enactment created four counties in that portion of Idaho taken from Washington Territory, viz., Shoshone, Nez Perce, Idaho and Boise counties. The last three counties nam- ed had organized and had their county governments in operation. The first county created by act of the first session was Owyhee county. It embraced all territory south of Snake river and west of the Rocky Mountains. Approved Dec. 31st, 1863. The second was Oneida, out of the eastern portion of Owyhee county. Act of Jan. 22, 1864. (p. 625.) At this first session of the territorial legislature of Idaho, an act was passed re-bounding and organizing these same four counties that had been created by act of the Washington territory legislature, without any apparent change, viz., Nez Perce, Shoshone, Idaho and Boise counties. In the same act the counties of Alturas and Owyhee were organized and Owyhee county was re- bounded, thus creating and authorizing the organization of six counties in one act, which act was approved February 4th, 1864. (See pp. 628 to 630, inclusive, 1st Session laws.) Ada county was created out of the southern and western portion of Boise county by legislative act at the 2nd session. Approved Dec. 22, 1864. (See p. 430, 2nd Session laws.) Latah and Kootenai counties were created out of the north-west- ern portion of Idaho by legislative act at the second session. Ap- proved December 22, 1864. (See p. 432, 2nd Session Laws.) These counties did not organize for several years later, but remained and acted as a part of Nez Perce until organized, of which mention will be made later. Lemhi county was created out of the southeastern part of Idaho county and was organized in 1869 under an act passed at the fifth session of the legislature, approved January 9> 1869. All of these nine counties have been spoken of before in Chapter 20. The next county created was Bear Lake, which was created out of the southeastern portion of Oneida county by an act passed at Hfe-20 306 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO the eighth session of the legislature and approved January 5th, 1875. Washington county was created out of the northwestern portion of Ada county by an act passed at the 10th session of the legisla- ture, approved February 20th, 1879. Cassia county was created out of the eastern portion of Owyhee county and the western portion of Oneida, by act of the 10th ses- sion, approved February 20th, 1879- Custer county was created out of a portion of the northeastern part of Alturas county and the western portion of Lemhi county, by legislative act passed at the llth session, and approved January 8, 1881. Kootenai county, of which we have spoken, appears to have or- ganized and put her county government into operation in 1881, un- der the old creative act of Dec. 22nd, 1864. Latah county appears to have organized and put her county gov- ernment into operation in 1 883, under the old creative act of Decem- ber 22nd, 1864. Bingham county was created out of the northern and eastern por- tions of Oneida county by act of the ISth session of the legislature, approved January 13, 1885. Elmore county was created out of the Southwestern portion of Alturas county by an act of the 15th session of the territorial leg- islature, approved February 7, 1889. Logan county was by the same act created out of the southern part of Alturas county. Canyon county was created out of the southwestern portion of Ada county by act of the first state legislature, approved March 7, 1891. Fremont county was created out of the northern portion of Bing- ham county by act of the 2nd session of the state legislature, ap- proved March 4, 1893. Bannock county was created out of the southern portion of Bing- ham county at the same session. The act was approved March 6th, 1893. These compose all the counties in Idaho up to January 1, 1907, except that the boundary lines and the names of Alturas and Lo- gan counties were changed at the 3rd session of the state legisla- ture in 1895. The name of Alturas was changed to that of Blame, and the name of Logan, to that of Lincoln. I shall not give any statement of the different kinds of legislation and litigation had over the territory embraced in these two last named counties, cover- ing a period of about nine years, involving great expense, unrest and some bad feeling. After this, Alturas county will be dropped, CREATION OF COUNTIES 307 and Elaine county will take its place, and Lincoln county will take the place of Logan county in this and further writings. Twin Falls county was created out of the western portion of Cas- sia county by act of the 9th session of the state legislature approv- ed Feb. 21, 1907. Bonner county was created out of the northern portion of Koo- tenai county, by act of the 9th session of the state legislature, ap- proved February 21, 1907. This completes the names and number, twenty-three, of counties in Idaho on December 1, 1907. All of them have their county gov- ernments in operation. We are under obligations to U. S. Surveyor General, Ern C. Eag- leson, for the following letter and table: "Boise, Idaho, February 27, 1908. "Mr. John Hailey, Secretary Pioneer Special. I enclose herewith a statement I had prepared on December 1, 1907, giving total areas of counties surveyed and unsurveyed, mili- tary, Indian and forest reservations, as well as the lake area of Idaho, also comparative diagrams taking the area of Delaware as Unit and comparing the same with Indian and forest reservations, surveyed and unsurveyed lands and the total area of the State. "The areas given, I think, will be found absolutely correct for all of the counties except Fremont and Lemhi. The returns of the survey of the Idaho-Montana boundary along said counties were not available at the time of making the above calculation. The to- tals, however, in said counties will differ very little from the above figures when the final calculations are made. Very respectfully, (Signed) Ern. C. Eagleson, U. S. Surveyor General for Idaho. 808 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO II J-8 Is 8S (4-! CO 00 00 CD Ol 10 r-4 Tt T-H co co , , ^ tCO r-OCO rH O 1 . t-OOO 00 U5 OO 1C CO r-i O CO rH IO CO CO CO O U2 ICCOCOt-COrH cc IO CO t- OJ rH CO rf 00 CO ** COlOTHTHCOOOOOCOOOOOTj IMPORTATIONS AND HOME PRODUCTIONS. We import too many things into Idaho and do not produce enough at home, which takes our money away. We have as fine agricultural lands as there are in the United States, and the best grazing lands for live stock of any State in the Union. We have fine water power for driving machinery, or making electric power. We have good gold and silver mines, undeveloped for want of means to work them. Our sheepmen produce wool enough to make blankets and clothing for twice the number of people in Idaho. It is all shipped to and sold in the eastern markets in its raw state, at a low price, fifteen to twenty-five cents per pound. After freight, drayage, storage, insurance, middle-men's commission, interest, etc., is paid, it reaches the manufacturers, and after some delay it is worked up into blankets and clothing and usually passes to the eastern wholesale merchants with all of these extras, such as stor- age, insurance, labor, use of machinery, clerk hire, net profits, etc. There it is held until the Idaho merchant purchases it with all of these former extra commissions, interest, etc., with a large addi- tional amount added for the wholesale man's profits, expenses, etc. The Idaho merchants ship these goods back to the same place in Idaho from which the raw material was shipped two or three years before, and are offered for sale at a price which, if weighed like wool, would amount to from two to five dollars per pound. Our beef hides and sheep pelts go and come back to us through a like channel. Would it not be better policy to try and have our raw material worked up at home and save this great expense, be- sides give employment to men who would spend the money paid them here, thus keeping the money at home and add permanent prosperity to our towns? 394 THE HISTORY OF IDAHO MORE FARMERS WANTED. With all of our fine agricultural lands., we are a long way short of supplying our home market with all the necessaries that should come from the farm, and especially is this the case in the southern part of Idaho. We are not raising nearly enough wheat for home consumption. We are short on supplying the home market with milk, cream and butter. We are short on chickens, eggs, turkeys, etc., also bacon, lard, canned fruits and canned meats. A large quantity of these articles just mentioned are imported from other States every year that are not as well adapted by nature to pro- duce them as is Idaho. There are many other things which are imported here from other States that might be produced or manufactured here, such as wagons, buggies, household furniture, etc. There is a fir tree that grows in the mountain gulches of Idaho that makes better wagon timber than any I ever got from the east. I have tested both while in the stage business for several years. TOWN AND COUNTRY. In my opinion the population of each town is too great for that of the country. In other words, there are too many traders, pro- fessionals and idlers around the towns for the number of pro- ducers in the country. We need more producers and less idlers who hang around the town doing little or nothing, but seem to think the town might sink if they left. To this class permit me to say that all we get in this good world comes from two sources and two alone: The first is this earth with all of its timber, water, minerals, etc.; and the second and only remaining source is honest labor brought in intelligent contact with this earth, or some of the god-given fruits, such as timber, water, mineral, etc. These two, the earth and labor, produce all, so let no man or woman who is able be ashamed to work 'tis God-like. He has rdone his part well for us; let us try and do our part well by producing some- thing to sustain life and add to the comforts of ourselves and others. Honest labor performed for an honest purpose in a workmanlike manner in any of the legitimate industries of our country is as high and honorable business as man has or ever can reach in this world. Our very existence depends on labor. LAND AND FOREIGN IMMIGRATION. Our population is increasing rapidly from two sources: natural births and foreign immigration. In 1810 the population of the United States, as shown by the census, was 7,240,000. We expect the census for 1910 to show a population of not less than 90,000,- SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE S96 000. This is an increase of more than twelve hundred per cent in one hundred years, or an increase of from 7,240,000 to 82,760,000 in one hundred years over original stock. If this rapid increase goes on from the 90,000,000 at the same ratio of increase for the next one hundred years, we will have more than one billion people in the United States. Where and how will they live? Our land boundaries extend from the Gulf of Mexico on the south to the British possessions on the north, and from the Atlantic Ocean on the east, to the Pacific Ocean on the west and Alaska in the north- west. But all included we have just 3,602,990 square miles, equal to 2,305,913,600 acres. In this area is included mountains, rivers, lakes, lava, townsites, railroads, rights-of-way, wagon roads and hundreds and thousands of small areas of good land used for pub- lic and private purposes, other than for producing purposes. We have no means of knowing just what portion of our land is avail- able for cultivation or is susceptible of cultivation, but am satis- fied that it is less than one-half. If our increase of population con- tinues in the future as it has in the past, it will not be many years until all of the available agricultural land in the United States will have to be cultivated to raise a sufficient quantity of bread, meat, and vegetables to feed the people at home. Would it not be better to stop foreign immigration from coming here to settle and save our land for those who are here and their pos- terity? The great rush of people at the late land openings ought to be enough to satisfy any one that land is getting scarce in proportion to the population. I respectfully recommend for Idaho less importation of goods and more home manufactures; less traders, less idlers, and more producers; smaller farms and well cultivated; economy in home, State, county and municipal governments. Let us all be up and doing our part while we are here. Our position may be high or low, but let us perform our duty to the best of our ability and when we come to the end of our time here, then we may be able to look back with some degree of satisfaction and truthfully say we have done our duty as best we could, with a confident hope that He who is the final Judge of the rectitude of our earthly career may assign us to a higher and better place in the hereafter. FINIS. FROM IDAHO'S MOTHER, OREGON. Thro* the mist of coming years From this vale of hopes and fears, There's a future bright appears, Rolling on; And thy sons, amid their toil, On this far, far distant soil, Shall be proudly seen to smile, Oregon ! Tho' no more a foreign rod Is extended o'er thy sod, But thy hills and vales are trod By the free; Tho' the children of the North In their might have sallied forth, To assert Columbia's worth Gloriously ! Yet alas! the parent hand That should nurse so bright a land, Doth but faintly, feebly stand For its son; While with anxious eyes we look On the homes we once forsook, Fierce and savage tribes to brook, Oregon ! But we laugh despair to scorn ! Tho' forgotten and forlorn, We predict the coming morn Thro' the gloom; When thy sons and daughters fair, Sweetly reft of grief and care, Shall a Nation's bounty share, And a home ! For the day is drawing nigh When a long-neglected cry Not in vain shall raise on high, "We are One!" And thy sons, amid their toil On this fair though distant soil, Shall in sweet contentment smile, THEO. J. ECKERSON. NOTE These prophetic lines were published in the Oregon Spectator in the Spring of 1860. Major Eckerson was at that time a member of the First U. S. Artillery. A PIONEER DAY SONG. (Tune"Auld Lang Syne/') We Pioneers are glad today, For though our forms are bent, Our hearts are still as blythe and gay As when in youth we went. We haste our feet, and gladly greet Each friend of long ago; Here, oil and wine of friendship meet; No space have we for woe. Sweet melody of heart is ours, The song of youth and mirth, While in the gloaming here we sit Around our camp-fire hearth. Should ever we those days forget Or fail to call to mind The pleasures of old friendship yet, Then, fate would be unkind. Flowers to strew our way they bring, That speak of love and truth; Gay songs of youth once more we sing Of happy-hearted youth. And were there foe of long ago, All malice now is past, Erstwhile we twine the eglantine Of memories that last. Then let us dream our dream tonight, Nor wake 'till morning sun Shall bathe in such a flood of light As God's first day begun. When rolls the year, the latch-string here, Shall then as now hang out In memory of Auld Lang Syne; Though all the world should flout. (Written by Mrs. Sarah J. Henderson, Portland, a Pioneer of 1845, and daughter of Rev. Ezra Fisher.) IDAHO (Song). There's a land whose glory we should tell In love's divinest melody of song; In honest glory let our voices dwell To echo all the hills and vales among; Where crystal streams, in varied beauty fall, Through valleys bright that brighten as we gaze, And mountains lift their minarets of snow, And over all a wealth of summer days. CHORUS. It's Idaho, dear Idaho, Gem of the Mountains, Idaho, Where golden sunlight lingers and healthful breezes blow, And heaven bends to kiss dear Idaho. Here health goes roystering along the grassy slopes, And dreams of wealth may not be all in vain, For fortune loves to dally with our hopes, And he who tries and fails, can try again. Then dig the hills for silver and for gold, While rosy health it keeps our hearths aglow; Better than gold a thousand, thousand fold, And best of all the boons in Idaho. Match me, ye bards of southern, sunny lands, And ye who sing the praise of eastern isles; It's heaven and earth where liberty expands, And man can greet his fellow men with smiles; No king nor creed compels you to obey; Contagion vexeth not, nor wars alarm, And to the oppressed of every land we say: "Come; Idaho will take you in her arms." All Hail to ye! Ye hearty Pioneers, Who blazed the trail and fought the dusky foe; Your deeds of valor brighten with the years, We honor you in loving Idaho. For you may time have happiness in store; And while this lovely heritage is ours, We pray that when your pilgrimage is o'er, You will rest in peace beneath the snow and flowers. Composed by H. C. Thompson. IDAHO, O, IDAHO! (Song.) Tune "Maryland, My Maryland." A lovely mountain home is our, Idaho, O Idaho! Of winters mild and springtime showers, Idaho, O Idaho! Her breezes blow from western shore, Where broad Pacific's billows roar; Each year we love her more and more; Idaho, O Idaho! Her mountains grand are crowned with snow, Idaho, O Idaho! And valleys fertile spread below, Idaho, O Idaho ! The towering pines on cliffs so steep, O'er cataracts their vigils keep, Or in the lakes are mirrored deep, Idaho, O Idaho! A thousand hills where herds may range, Idaho, O Idaho! And lava beds so weird and strange, Idaho, O Idaho! Above our heads are cloudless skies, In gorgeous hues the sunset dies, Then starry diamonds greet our eyes, Idaho, O Idaho ! Such is our wondrous mountain home, Idaho, O Idaho! And far away we ne'er would roam. Idaho, O Idaho ! Oh, "Land of Liberty," we tell, Beneath a starry flag to dwell, One star is ours, we love it well, Idaho, O Idaho! Ernest 0. Mills, Idaho Falls, Idaho. MY COUNTRY. My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, Land of the Pilgrims' pride, From every mountain side Let freedom ring! My native country, thee, Land of the noble, free, Thy name I love: I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills; My heart with rapture thrills Like that above. Our fathers' God, to thee, Author of liberty, To thee we sing: Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light; Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King.